Film review: The Conjuring 2 is good but can’t hold a candle to original

The Conjuring 2 goes all out to shock. It is louder, there are more demons, more jump scares, more creepy antique toys and, thankfully, more Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.

Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring 2. Courtesy Warner Bros Pictures

Associated Press

The Conjuring 2

Director: James Wan

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O'Connor

Three stars

If The Conjuring was a chilling whisper, the sequel is a deafening shriek. That might not be a bad thing for some, but the shock jumps and cheesy-looking demons in The Conjuring 2 were a definite departure from the first, and not necessarily for the better.

The brilliance of the elegant original was how it used our own horror-movie savvy against us. For example, director James Wan (Furious 7), who is also at the helm of the sequel, allowed for a long take of a terrified girl looking under her bed and let it linger to the point where your muscles start to tense. You instinctively brace for the shock you know is coming – but it never does. A creepy face or loud knock on the door wasn't needed – the suspense was more than sufficient. The audience was already petrified.

The Conjuring 2, however, goes all out to shock. It is louder, there are more demons, more jump scares, more creepy antique toys and, thankfully, more Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), the most delightfully campy supernaturally sensitive married couple ever to grace the screen.

You know they've seen the darkness – but when Ed grabs a guitar and starts crooning Can't Help Falling in Love, you forget all about the demon lurking in the tattered leather armchair in the corner of the living room.

Heck, even the cranky ­dead man in the corner terrorising a working-class family on the outskirts of London probably enjoyed Ed’s Elvis impersonation.

The story is based on the real-life case of the Enfield Poltergeist – a highly documented 1977 case involving a single mother, Peggy Hodgson (played by Frances O’Connor), her four children and claims of strange happenings in their home.

Like most haunted-house stories, this one starts small but escalates quickly to the demonic possession of an 11-year-old girl.

This time, though, the Warrens have their own issues. In a prologue about the Amityville murders, Lorraine sees something that scares her so deeply, she demands that she and Ed halt their paranormal investigations. Meanwhile, the whole industry of paranormal investigation is under fire in the press and so the Catholic Church asks the Warrens to get proof that this is not another embarrassing hoax.

While interesting, the constant scepticism and wavering trust dull the fun of the scares. Is the audience supposed to doubt little Janet, too? It’s never really clear.

The film is also way too long and the tricks end up feeling a little repetitive and obvious, although there’s a great sequence featuring a creepy picture.

Horror sequels are tough to pull off and The Conjuring 2 is one of the better efforts – but the first movie was so good, the follow-up can't hold a flickering candle to its predecessor.

• The Conjuring 2 is in cinemas now