I really really loved the first "Conjuring." I mean REALLY loved it. The family was compelling, I cared about them and was rooting for them, and the performances were so great. It was one of those rare horror movies that even a lot of non-horror fans loved, too. All around a great experience. I was stoked when I heard that they were making a sequel, and I was excited to see it, hoping that it would be great, too. Hope springs eternal, right? I wanted to wait for the October Horror Challenge before I finally saw it though, so I've been waiting almost a year. Bring on the ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night!
In this movie, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren are supposed to be on sabbatical after a particularly harrowing investigation, but find themselves traveling to North London to help a single mother raising 4 children alone in a house that she swears is plagued by a supernatural spirit. Damn ghosts always have to ruin everything, don't they? Plus the mom already has way more than enough to worry about without an evil spirit factored into the occasion. Her husband recently abandoned the family, her kids are acting out, her oldest daughter is having trouble in school, and her house is falling into disrepair while she's having trouble paying bills and making ends meet.
Right at the beginning of the movie, we see the kids playing with an Ouija board, like they've never seen a horror movie before so they don't know any better. Of course, they don't know that their house is haunted, so it really isn't their fault I guess. The churches I used to go to warned against using tools like the Ouija board because it gave demons and Satan a foothold in your life, like a doorway they can come through later whether you want them to or not, which is really creepy. If you didn't go to churches like that, though, you might not think of a board game as dangerous. Plus those churches also said I shouldn't watch horror movies because THOSE give Satan a foothold into your life as well, so you can see how much I listened to their warnings. At 100+ horror movies a year, I guess I'm doomed even if I never play with an Ouija board. Whoops.
So I told you how much I loved the first movie, but as much as I loved the first movie, it didn't scare me, just intrigued me. This movie definitely seemed scarier to me. It had several scenes that gave me chills. Plus I really liked the family in this movie. I feel for the little girl who is most affected by the evil spirit. First she loses her dad, then some evil spirit starts scaring her, then it possesses her and freaks her out and alienates her from all her friends. Mean ass fucking ghost.
Not everything is perfect in this movie, however. The subplot involving Ed and Lorraine Warren themselves feels kinda tacked on, and it feels like someone glued two movies together, or at least spliced scenes from some unrelated movie into this one. I feel like that should have been a separate movie unto itself instead of cluttering up this movie. And the conclusion had way too much going on, special effects and lights and magic and WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM, and I think a quieter ending, like the one from the first movie, would have suited this one better. Aside from that though, I really did enjoy this movie and I'm so glad I finally checked it out. I think they could keep making these sequels for awhile using different case files from the Warrens, and I'm so here for it. Bring on The Conjuring III!
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