The Conjuring 2 Review!
Jondee here at Enfield,
The first Conjuring was brilliant, it had me almost from the opening image wanting to leave the theater, and again, but there was enough of the family and normal life that kept me to the end. Conjuring 2 is not at the same level of sheer terror, but once it started shivers starting running up my arm. The theater was packed on the Thursday night screening and taken for the same ride as the first Conjuring. It opens with the Warrens, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) checking the Amityville house after the Lutz family had left. Halfway through the original I was going “Hey, family, just leave!” which is what the family here does when things get supernatural. Lorraine gets a vision of being possessed by the killer, Ronald Defeo, gunning down his family. She then sees some dark form that shows her a violent death. This shifts to Enfield, England where we get the school yard with young Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe), the center for the movie. She is able to convey the weariness of encountering this spirit while still being a child. What is surprising is that the actress has a perfect British accent even though she is American and from the South. Janet is holding a cigarette for her friend when a teacher catches them and then takes a drag herself. She is joined by her sister, Margaret (Lauren Esposito) to help defend their younger brother, Johnny (Patrick McAuley) who has a problem with stuttering.
Her mother, Peggy, played by Frances O’Connor chastises her for smoking while smoking herself. This is a test of Janet’s truthfulness, something that comes up later when this case is said to be a hoax. Peggy is a single mother trying to raise her family. Janet has brought a spirit board to try out with Margaret, but there are no answers. It starts to get supernatural when Janet suddenly wakes up in the lounge chair downstairs. Something has taken hold of the girl. It warns her with “It’s my house!” We get the Warrens with Lorraine wanting to retire their ghost busting because of her vision of Ed’s violent death. This was what she saw in the first movie that made her shut herself away for seven days. She has a vision of a pale man in a nun’s robe that Ed has painted. The Enfield Poltergeist is an old man who had died in the house and haunts Janet which she blames on sleepwalking. Johnny is practicing reciting a rhyme, “The Crooked Man” with a spinning toy which later manifests into some spirit. His tent at the the end of the hall sends out his toy fire truck. Janet ties her arm with a jump rope to her bed, but this doesn’t help, the poltergeist teleports her downstairs. She is screaming along with her sister and the family runs out of the house to stay with neighbors. Peggy is convinced by a reporter to interview the family to get help. Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney) has taken the side of the Hodgsons and wants to help them. Janet is possessed by the poltergeist, which is a first time spirits would announce themselves, but this is a mystery that will later be answered. The Warrens are sent to investigate what is called the “Amityville of England.” At first, they check out the house and Lorraine talks to Janet revealing that she saw an angel, but no one believed her until Ed. Wan has control of the terrors, just the right camera angle to have you on edge, and he also have investment into the characters. Four out of Five Crooked Men!
