The opening of James Wan’s The Conjuring 2 is absolutely horrifying. Demonologists and paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are conducting a seance in the kitchen of the famous Amityville house of The Amityville Horror (1979) fame. Lorraine finds herself psychically connected to Ronald DeFeo, the son who used a shotgun to kill his entire family one terrible night in the house. When Lorraine looks in a mirror, it is Ronald DeFeo who looks back. Slowly, room to room, Lorraine methodically shoots each member of the family. It is a slow burn, with scare after scare, and it introduces the demon nun (Bonnie Aarons), who will become important later in the Conjuring franchise.
Buy The Conjuring 2 Blu-rayThe story, written by James Wan, Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes, and David Leslie Johnson, focuses on the Enfield, London poltergeist case which took place from 1977-1979. The movie version revolves around a family of five (mom and four children – dad is out of the picture). The second oldest child, Janet (Madison Wolfe), begins to experience bouts of sleep walking, and talking to a deranged, elderly old man who likes to pop up like a Jack-in-the-Box. The Warrens are contacted by the Catholic church and asked to travel to Enfield and either provide proof of the strange happenings or declare it a hoax.
There are more scares in the first ten minutes of The Conjuring 2 than in the entirety of the first Conjuring. But it is not horrific images that make The Conjuring 2 scary, it is the constant focus on the characters, almost forcing us to care what happens to them. The point is that Wan points his camera almost exclusively at the families. Quite a bit of footage is used to establish the profoundly close bond between Ed and Lorraine Warren. The second family is the Hodgson family with a special bond placed between the mother (Frances O’Connor) and her daughter, haunted Janet (Madison Wolfe).
There are also smaller stories of family thrown in here and there. For instance, supernatural investigator Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney) lost his daughter a few years previous and longs to gather proof of an afterlife. Also, the Hodgson’s neighbors are pleasant, and helpful, and even let the Hodgson’s move in with them for a while. We care so much about the families and their love for each other that the horror elements hit ten times harder.
For historical context, though, let’s not forget that the writers have done everything they can to hide the truth about the Warrens who were either delusional or, more likely, delusional and money-grubbing hucksters. They spent their lives pushing book and movie deals capitalizing on the real and imagined pain of others. In fact, the entire Conjuring franchise (including The Nun and Annabelle side projects) is a direct result of Ed Warren’s attempts to get a movie deal. Turns out it was worth it.
