Don't worry, no spoilers here.
So on Friday I went to see "The Conjuring 2." Horror sequels are usually pretty hit or miss. Actually, most of the time they are pretty bad. "Annabelle," actually a prequel to "The Conjuring," wasn't good. In fact, it was a disappointment. Many horror movies in general are pretty bad. Especially the PG-13 ones (sorry, most of them are just too weak, minus "Insidious"). I thought that "Sinister 2" was actually pretty good, but it still had that sequel vibe to it that made it not as great as it could have been. It followed the normal jump-scare formula.
Now, while "Conjuring 2" does have jump scares, the movie relied heavily on its creepy atmosphere. And, even though it is a sequel, it is the strongest horror movie sequel I've ever seen.
The film works well as a standalone film, but the story of the two main characters, Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), feels a lot more natural having the first movie in mind. The movie has everything I love about horror films. It has a great score, great sound effects, great cinematography, fantastic acting, and, above all, an amazing, terrifying atmosphere. That's what really does it for me with a horror film. The film feels like a good, genuine, scary movie. So many horror movies leave me feeling like I've wasted time. But this one has a lot of effort put into it, and a lot of heart. That's something you don't really hear about with scary movies, but it makes them a whole hell of a lot better.
To make it even better, the movie had a great story. It had great non-horror elements, too. There were some funny and even touching moments. I won't spoil the very last scene but I'm glad that James Wan (the director) left the movie on that note. Also, the romance between the two main characters is so natural and its hard to believe that they aren't a couple in real life.
See what I mean? Who talks about that kind of stuff with a horror film? No, there aren't people constantly screaming, or teenagers doing stupid things, or even pointless jump scares. All of those are intricately placed and very scary. And I was so happy to see that so many (seriously) scenes were left out of the trailer and not spoiled. It kept the scares and overall feeling of dread very fresh.
Speaking of a certain feeling of dread, "The Conjuring 2" is scarier than the first. The atmosphere is just as appealing as the first, but it is more terrifying. The movie is over two hours long (weird for a horror film, most of them clocking in at an hour and a half) and the pacing is pretty spot on. But the terror is plentiful here; and the actors do a fantastic job of showing fear.
It's a film like this that assures me that there are good horror movies being made. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go see it.
