My thoughts in all these movies is why doesn’t this family just move? I sure as hell would. But then you wouldn’t have much of a movie, and Wan drags this one out to a pulse-pounding 134 minutes — quite long for the genre, but for me every minute was worth it. Wan knows the tricks of this trade (heightened sound effects, moving furniture, dark corners) but somehow miraculously he really puts a fresh spin on it all here. It’s riveting stuff, even if in a familiar cinematic environment. Maybe it’s the British accents, but something made this cynic jump out of his seat and talk back to the screen more than once, so mission accomplished.
Credit also should go to the screenwriters, Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes & Wan and David Leslie Johnson, for making what seems so incredible so credible. O’Connor is excellent as the beleaguered mom, with Wolfe easily the standout among her kids who include Lauren Esposito, Patrick McAuley and Benjamin Haigh. Wan produced again with his original Conjuring colleagues Peter Safran and Rob Cowan. It is one hell of a movie.
Do you plan to see The Conjuring 2? Let us know what you think.