The Conjuring, released in the summer of 2013, was a rare beast: a retro horror exercise that performed like a blockbuster (earning well over $100m in the US) and was also beloved by critics. In essence, it was the first genre pic of its kind since The Sixth Sense to receive such adulation and fuel intense curiosity.
With the inevitable sequel, returning director James Wan more or less repeats himself, but that alone is no small feat. Like its predecessor, it’s exceedingly well crafted, relentlessly terrifying and boasts characters you actually root for.
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga build on the charming chemistry they had in the original as real-life paranormal investigators and married couple Ed and Lorraine Warren. Wan puts them through the wringer during a nerve-shredding opening sequence that sees the pair investigate the infamous Amityville haunting of 1976 (itself the subject for numerous horror films). Lorraine, profoundly spooked after encountering a demonic nurse and envisioning the gruesome death of her husband during a séance at the Amityville home, vows to give her day job a rest. “This is the closest to hell as I ever want to get,” she says, crying to Ed.
A year later, they’re forced back into the limelight after the Church recruits them to head to London to suss out another haunting, referred to by a priest as “England’s Amityville”.
Before the duo arrive, Wan spends ample time with the British, working-class family being plagued by a very angry demon, to root you in their plight. Frances O’Connor, as the clan’s single mother who’s unsure of how to protect her family from the increasingly violent bumps in the night, is quietly heartbreaking. The four actors playing her children are equally compelling, with Madison Wolfe, playing 11-year-old Janet, the clear standout. As the child to receive the brunt of the demonic abuse, Wolfe registers fear more palpably that most scream queens twice her age.
By the time Ed and Lorraine show up, the strange occurrences have caused a media circus and led many to question whether the whole thing is a hoax put on by Janet. Run Lola Run’s Franka Potente is all sassy eye-rolls as a dubious sceptic out to make an example of the family.
In a film that’s chock-full of dread (Wan wrings great use of out of every dark corner captured by cinematographer Don Burgess’s roving camera), it’s the smaller, personal touches that go a long way to making every scream count.
When Ed sits the distraught family down for an Elvis sing-a-long to calm everyone’s nerves, you half expect Wan to cut it short with a gotcha jump-scare – because typically, that’s what these films do. But Wan is too talented a film-maker to cheapen the moment. He’s invested in the inner lives of every character. So when the horror hits, it cuts close to the bone.
• The Conjuring 2 opens on 10 June in the US and on 17 in the UK
