“This is as close to Hell as I ever want to get- Lorraine Warren”.

So “The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case” is James Wan’s latest addition to the ‘Conjuring/Annabelle’ franchise, and here’s my review for the movie: This movie is a direct sequel to the first one and while it does focus on a brand new family and an entirely different case, there are still nods to aspects of the first movie, notably in Lorraine Warren’s premonitions.

Now the first movie set the bar for the horror genre in my opinion, because it was just leagues scarier and well presented than any of the other recent horror movies. I’m delighted to say therefore that ‘The Conjuring 2’ is in my opinion even better and more successful than the first movie! This is largely due to the fact that James Wan has proved once again that he’s the perfect director for a horror movie. I seriously feel like other horror directors need to take a leaf out of this guy’s book with future horrors, because Wan has nailed it, which I’ll go on to explain very shortly!

For those of you who don’t know, ‘The Conjuring 2’ is set in Enfield, London so a vastly different setting than the previous movie, and it focuses on the Hodgson family who begin to experience terrifying events unfold in their house, notably the possession of their youngest daughter Janet. For a start, the acting in this movie is superb! Madison Wolfe is terrific as Janet and is an example to other child actors particularly in this genre. She carries herself so well throughout the movie and is satisfyingly creepy yet still sweet when she needs to be. As always, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga shine as Ed and Lorraine Warren and their performances are so genuine and consistent throughout the entire movie.

One thing I will say right off the bat as a very minor negative point, is that upon leaving the cinema, I was informed that Ed and Lorraine Warren weren’t actually involved with the Enfield case to the level which they were shown to be in this movie, which changed things ever so slightly for me and somewhat reduced the accuracy of the movie’s events when compared to those of the first movie. As I say though, that’s a very minor gripe for a movie which was spectacularly good. Something I loved so much about this movie besides the acting is the constant sense of unease and tension which was very apparent from start to finish. This is something which James Wan nails in every single one of his horrors and he is the master of leaving audiences biting their nails from pure dread and unease. I can’t even count the amount of times I was on the edge of my seat with chills while watching this movie, because it’s so damn effective and packs a punch with its scares.

The sense of unease is largely caused by the soundtrack which Wan uses in the movie at ideal moments. Similarly to the ‘Insidious’ franchise, Wan uses very high pitched frequency sounds which really get to you and put you on edge.

Another thing which was so scary about this movie for me personally, was that it’s based on actual recorded events and while these are somewhat exaggerated in this movie for obvious reasons, much of them are claimed to be true, and considering Enfield is so close to home, this amplified the tension and horror for me. I now want to talk about jump scares and how James Wan has utilised these in a very unique way. I’m sure lots of people will agree with me when I say that jump scares where paranormal entities, demons, and what have you jump at the camera and scream are super lazy and leave you sighing from overuse. While there are a couple of traditional jump scares at most in this movie, a very original style is used in which Wan produces something sinister and terrifying on the screen for audiences, but instead of throwing it in your face, he leaves it on the screen for just the right amount of time that tension mounts and you have a moment to absorb the fact that something is going to scare you. I felt personally that this was a vastly superior alternative to the traditional and tired jump scare formula which we’ve seen 1000000 times with horror movies.

Another very clever aspect of this movie which raised the bar for the horror movie genre, was James Wan’s clever use of camerawork. By this, I mean that there were several moments of this movie which relied on the audience being observant and taking in every bit of detail in the scenes, in order to pick out extra sinister content. Without giving too much away, one particular scene involving Janet being questioned by the Warrens in the living room is amazing. While looking directly at Janet, she appears as herself, however once the Warrens turn their backs to her, we as the audience see Janet’s very faint appearance change into the form of the original inhabitant of the house who is terrorising Janet. This extra bit of detail was remarkable and super creepy!

I also loved the fact that while this movie was pretty down right terrifying, there were a couple of moments of comic relief, notably with Ed Warren, and these moments never detracted from the feel of the movie, they just felt very appropriate and well placed. The only thing I feel that certain audience members may criticise about this movie is that it does use a fair few stereotypes which have been used to death in horror movies, for example loud banging sounds and doors slamming. For me this was not a problem though, because the difference here is that James Wan absolutely knows how to properly execute these moments so that they don’t feel stale.

I realise that this has been a very lengthy review but I just had so much to write about and share with you all! I’ll wrap things up though by saying this this is not only the best sequel to a horror movie which I’ve ever seen, but also a damn incredible movie on its own! It’s frequently terrifying and perfectly executed which as an audience member, was a real treat given some of the lack lustre horrors we’ve been given recently. 10/10.