With The Conjuring rating so high on my scary-movie scale, I was worried number two wouldn’t hold up. I was (somewhat) right to worry, even though TC2 had some good scares, decent suspense, and the based-on-real-life story line I usually love so much.
The Conjuring 2 takes us to London in the 70’s where single mother Peggy lives with her four children. The children soon begin to hear the standard bumps in the night, see scary shadows outside their bedrooms and in play areas, and have various other unexplained things occur to them. Ho-hum. What helps ratchet up the suspense, though, is when Peggy and two local police officers also witnesses furniture slide across the floor and realize something’s amiss. As neighbors try to help the family, and local researchers try to find proof of the spirits, the youngest child becomes possessed by a demon. Enter our fearless ghost buster couple Ed and Lorraine Warren, who reluctantly reach out to help after having visions of the same demon and learning of the case through its publicity.
NOW is when the action really begins in earnest, with the very creepy white-faced demon in a nun habit popping in for a good scare or nine. But it’s also when things get bogged down a bit with focus on an old man who died in the house, a creepy stick-figure man who comes alive from a toy, a doubting reporter, and other tangents. As the movie carries on past the two-hour mark, it feels the payoff may never come. But, good news! The ending of TC2 is a spectacular horror movie ending complete with lightning, screams, and scares as well.
- Top Scare: Nun Demon
- Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
- Gore Factor: 1 out of 5
- Suspense Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
- Recommended for: 16 or 17 and up