The Conjuring 2

Remember back in the day when your crazy aunt or uncle would always tell you these wild ghost stories from the past? There'd always be some kooky old lady who lived by herself called Grandma Death whose house was so cursed that every time you tried to roller skate by it, you'd fall flat on your face. Or there'd be a horny ghost woman who would only appear at night to hover over your bed and give you the best head of your life! Man those were the days. Ok ok, so Grandma Death is from Donnie Darko, the tripping in front of some mean old lady's house is from the Cosby Show, and the ghost of Blow Job Betty is from Ghostbusters 1 but you get the point.

No one tells cool ghost stories anymore and I am 100% certain that this is why the horror movie genre will soon fade away like NFL football. It's all the same story now; every horror film has some house that's haunted by a ghost whose family was brutally murdered 30 years earlier or there's some creepy doll in the house that's wreaking havoc. Why don't these families simply move or just ship the doll off to some cousin of theirs that they hate? Movie over.

Well having said that, it's a little weird to me that the best horror film to come out in the past 5 years just so happened to center around a demon possessed doll called Annabelle in the original Conjuring. But I guess if you only have stale material to work with, you may as well make the best film you can make with it. James Wan (Insidious, Furious 7) is clearly a horror movie buff as he utilizes all of the tricks from the genre's past to help bring back the feelings of genuine fear and suspense that's sorely lacking from the modern day horror experience. Most films today strictly rely on gore or uninspired 80's nostalgia to stand out amongst their peers, and while I am a fan of gore, there should still be a somewhat intriguing storyline to accompany it.

Well in The Conjuring 2, Wan thankfully gives us a break from the norm as we once again follow the dangerous expeditions of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Now of course they are still dealing with demon possession but what else do you expect from a movie called The Conjuring. This time we follow them all the way to England just after they have sworn off taking another case due to the brutality of the Amityville Murders. Lorraine saw something in her visions there that led her to believe her family would soon be affected by their timely interventions of the diabolical schemes of these demons.

But once they see this desperate and down on their luck family of five, they can't help but get involved in spite of all the doubt that surrounds their particular circumstance. Young Janet (a Natalie Portman lookalike in this film) has been possessed by the spirit of an old man who used to live in their house and apparently wants it back. So he terrifies the entire family by moving objects or people in ways they shouldn't in an attempt to scare them away. But what's different about this spirit is he doesn't just wait until nightfall to cause chaos, he does it during the daytime as well. And things seem to get worse as more and more attention is brought to his presence; he not only speaks through Janet but also begins to control her actions. But in spite of all of this, there were still skeptics who believed that this was simply a hoax. Is this just a highly imaginative girl who is seeking out attention because her father left or is there something more sinister going on than we can actually see?

Through the use of mood music, dark enclosed spaces, and the dreariness of England's weather, Wan is able to keep you on the edge of your seat without resorting to the use of tired tricks like jump out gags or silly CGI. There are a few scenes where he has to rely on it to help bring The Crooked Man to life, in a spot where things could have gone horribly wrong and completely killed the movie, but his directing prowess helps him get through the challenges of making the supernatural not look cheesy.

And it's this combined with his ability to get the most out of his actors that makes this film rather enjoyable. Conjuring 2 isn't the scariest film I've ever seen but it did have me saying a prayer or two during the middle of it. And any film that makes me do that gets a rating of FRESH from me.