The Conjuring 2 - Further Adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren
I admit to having a skeptic’s interest in the topic of hauntings, spirits, visitations, etc, and have read some books on the subject. The motherlode of stories about things that go bump in the night are the experiences of an actual married couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren, the originals in the field of ghost hunting. Prior to Ed’s death in 2006, the Warrens had been doing this since the early 50’s and claim to have visited as many as 10,000 “haunted” houses. A number of movies have been made that fictionalize their experiences, most notably the first Conjuring movie, Annabelle, The Haunting in Connecticut and the Amityville Horror. I don’t know whether I believe in their claims, but I don’t believe that they are deliberate frauds. As in the first Conjuring movie, Ed is played by Patrick Wilson and Lorraine by Vera Farmiga. The movie was directed by James Wan, who directed the first Conjuring film as well as some other action movies.
The Conjuring 2 concerns itself with what has been referred to as the Enfield Poltergeist, a series of 1977 events in a British home that resulted in widespread media coverage and a visit from the Warrens. Recordings and photos were made, investigators, skeptics and news reporters were “baffled”. The Warrens were called (both in the movie and real life) and asked to document the events in order to get attention from the church and a possible exorcism. It’s worth noting that in real life, as well as in the movie, the Warrens have a very religious take on all this and regard it as a battle between good and evil, God and Satan. The first half of Conjuring 2 portrays the lead up to the main “battle”. Lorraine is completely exhausted from her experiences in Amityville and her protective husband thinks she needs a rest. This is when they get the call from Britain and they feel that they can not NOT go. The entire family is terrified, local people who have investigated feel over their heads and it’s all spilling out into the news.
There’s a sense of relief when the Warrens arrive, a lot like cavalry to the rescue, but things don’t get better right away. Cases like this rarely have a neat resolution and this haunting seems to be especially pernicious, with Lorraine calling it a demon infestation. It’s not just bumps in the night, but flying objects, scary voices from a possessed daughter, levitations and bite marks go along with this malevolent spirit. Tension builds and the movie delivers lots of quick scares, along with a creeping mortal dread.
I don’t want to be a spoiler, so I won’t comment on how either the real case or the movie ended and won’t compare them to each other. I’m guessing that you either are or are not a fan of these kinds of movies and you probably already know whether you are going to see it. If you’re a fan of the Warrens, you probably already know about this case. If you don’t know about it, just search for the Enfield Poltergeist. I will say, however, that I enjoyed it. The suspense stayed with me to the end, it didn’t have as many dumb non-sequiturs as most horror movies and I liked that it did stay fairly true to the Warrens as characters. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga make a good couple, seem as sincere as the actual Warrens and make their rather odd beliefs seem to work. Direction by Wan was quite good. I was looking for “thrills and chills” and got them. The first half of the movie (except for the first few minutes at Amityville) seemed to drag, but I think it was necessary to do a lot of exposition in order that the context of the story and its claims to be based on truth can have some credibility. Special effects were fairly modest and some of them are based on “actual” events where were photographed.
Altogether, I thought it fared fairly well for a horror movie. The audience had fun, maybe a few of them will wonder about the true story, the production was not cynical or exploitive and the liberties taken in order to have a definable climax in 2 hours didn’t do any serious damage to the story. I don’t know whether Wan, Wilson and Farmiga have plans for any further episodes about the Warrens, but if they do, I will probably go. It’s pretty solid for a scary movie. It doesn’t rise to the level of The Witch, but horror movies rarely do. An actual photo from the Enfield events follows.
I admit to having a skeptic’s interest in the topic of hauntings, spirits, visitations, etc, and have read some books on the subject. The motherlode of stories about things that go bump in the night are the experiences of an actual married couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren, the originals in the field of ghost hunting. Prior to Ed’s death in 2006, the Warrens had been doing this since the early 50’s and claim to have visited as many as 10,000 “haunted” houses. A number of movies have been made that fictionalize their experiences, most notably the first Conjuring movie, Annabelle, The Haunting in Connecticut and the Amityville Horror. I don’t know whether I believe in their claims, but I don’t believe that they are deliberate frauds. As in the first Conjuring movie, Ed is played by Patrick Wilson and Lorraine by Vera Farmiga. The movie was directed by James Wan, who directed the first Conjuring film as well as some other action movies.
The Conjuring 2 concerns itself with what has been referred to as the Enfield Poltergeist, a series of 1977 events in a British home that resulted in widespread media coverage and a visit from the Warrens. Recordings and photos were made, investigators, skeptics and news reporters were “baffled”. The Warrens were called (both in the movie and real life) and asked to document the events in order to get attention from the church and a possible exorcism. It’s worth noting that in real life, as well as in the movie, the Warrens have a very religious take on all this and regard it as a battle between good and evil, God and Satan. The first half of Conjuring 2 portrays the lead up to the main “battle”. Lorraine is completely exhausted from her experiences in Amityville and her protective husband thinks she needs a rest. This is when they get the call from Britain and they feel that they can not NOT go. The entire family is terrified, local people who have investigated feel over their heads and it’s all spilling out into the news.
There’s a sense of relief when the Warrens arrive, a lot like cavalry to the rescue, but things don’t get better right away. Cases like this rarely have a neat resolution and this haunting seems to be especially pernicious, with Lorraine calling it a demon infestation. It’s not just bumps in the night, but flying objects, scary voices from a possessed daughter, levitations and bite marks go along with this malevolent spirit. Tension builds and the movie delivers lots of quick scares, along with a creeping mortal dread.
I don’t want to be a spoiler, so I won’t comment on how either the real case or the movie ended and won’t compare them to each other. I’m guessing that you either are or are not a fan of these kinds of movies and you probably already know whether you are going to see it. If you’re a fan of the Warrens, you probably already know about this case. If you don’t know about it, just search for the Enfield Poltergeist. I will say, however, that I enjoyed it. The suspense stayed with me to the end, it didn’t have as many dumb non-sequiturs as most horror movies and I liked that it did stay fairly true to the Warrens as characters. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga make a good couple, seem as sincere as the actual Warrens and make their rather odd beliefs seem to work. Direction by Wan was quite good. I was looking for “thrills and chills” and got them. The first half of the movie (except for the first few minutes at Amityville) seemed to drag, but I think it was necessary to do a lot of exposition in order that the context of the story and its claims to be based on truth can have some credibility. Special effects were fairly modest and some of them are based on “actual” events where were photographed.
Altogether, I thought it fared fairly well for a horror movie. The audience had fun, maybe a few of them will wonder about the true story, the production was not cynical or exploitive and the liberties taken in order to have a definable climax in 2 hours didn’t do any serious damage to the story. I don’t know whether Wan, Wilson and Farmiga have plans for any further episodes about the Warrens, but if they do, I will probably go. It’s pretty solid for a scary movie. It doesn’t rise to the level of The Witch, but horror movies rarely do. An actual photo from the Enfield events follows.
Last edited by skizzerflake; 06-12-16 at 05:46 PM.
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