Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Conjuring 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

More of the Same, Only More So

Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 11, 2016

The surprise success of director James Wan's 2013 The Conjuring virtually guaranteed a sequel. A self-conscious return to the Seventies style of expertly paced spiritual horror epitomized by The Exorcist, Wan's thriller provided a welcome change from the CG-laden gore and grossout style that has dominated the genre for the past decade. The Conjuring 2 dutifully treads in its predecessor's footsteps, unveiling what is purported to be an even more terrifying case from the files of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren than the one explored in the original film. The sequel's flaws are already ingrained in the concept, since the first Conjuring claimed to be the Warrens' most frightening case, the one they allegedly kept hidden and locked away, fearful that the world wasn't ready—except it now turns out they were supposedly hiding an even darker secret. (Given the box office success of Conjuring 2, you can be sure that, as with Jedi offspring, "there is another!") Building on that dubious premise, The Conjuring 2 attempts to top its predecessor at every turn, and the result is a bloated running time and an overly busy plot that ultimately saps the tale of any real tension. Wan is a good enough craftsman to provide several effective set pieces, and stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson remain engaging as the Warrens, but overall The Conjuring 2 is a letdown.

The Conjuring 2 opens with a prologue concerning the Warrens' investigation of the house that inspired The Amityville Horror. During a seance, the clairvoyant Lorraine (Farmiga) experiences a terrifying vision of an evil spirit in a nun's habit and a premonition of Ed (Wilson) being killed, which prompts her to insist that they cease their paranormal investigations. Later in the film, Ed will paint a portrait of the same evil spirit, which he glimpses in a dream, thereby intensifying Lorraine's fears.

Across the Atlantic, strange events are occurring in the Enfield Borough of London, where the crumbling council house occupied by Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) and her four children appears to be haunted by the spirit of a deceased former occupant. Alternately manifesting as a poltergeist, a disembodied voice, a corporeal spirit (Bill Wilkins) and a force possessing Peggy's younger daughter, Janet (Madison Wolfe), the invading presence is documented by both the local police and a British paranormal investigator, Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney). A second paranormal investigator, German-born Anita Gregory (Franka Potente), doubts the authenticity of the Enfield ghost, but local church authorities are sufficiently concerned to contact the Warrens through their U.S. Catholic liaison. With Ed faithfully promising Lorraine that they will do no more than observe and report (yeah, right!), the Warrens depart for England.

Conjuring 2 takes its time, both before and after the Warrens' arrival, so that Wan can stage one episode after another of preternatural turbulence, routinely terrifying the entire Hodgson family, especially young Janet. Wan and his crew handle these sequences with care and craftsmanship, but they are so numerous that the effect is dulled by repetition, not to mention the repeated sensation that Wan and screenwriters Carey and Chad Hayes (returning from the first film) and David Leslie Johnson (Orphan) are recycling scares from Poltergeist, The Exorcist and even The Shining (e.g., the toy fire engine that is pushed away and inexplicably returns). Indeed, the film's most inventive sequence occurs early on, before the Warrens have left America, when Lorraine experiences a waking dream of the same spirit she glimpsed in the Amityville house. (As with many of the best scares, it's a relatively simple effect involving a shadow that advances slowly and ominously around the room.)

As in the first film, Ed Warren is called upon to perform an exorcism, and it's no spoiler to reveal that he saves the day and also that, contrary to Lorraine's vision, he survives (as did the real Ed Warren). This time around, however, Wan isn't as successful at concealing the Conjuring series' ambivalent embrace of Christianity. One of the strengths that has made The Exorcist an enduring classic is the unapologetic authenticity of its Catholic faith, which lends credibility to the film's drama of demonic possession even for viewers of a different persuasion. But Wan and his team remain coy about their film's cosmology, substituting the Warrens' personal conviction for the authority of the Gospels and leaving the Hodgson family's religion a complete question mark. It's this kind of purposeful ambiguity that allows Ed Warren to brandish a cross as if he were a vampire hunter, while Lorraine succeeds in banishing a demon with a tactic derived from the Brothers Grimm. Fathers Merrin and Karras had to work a lot harder, and sacrifice much more, when hell unleashed its fury.

The Conjuring 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Oscar-nominated cinematographer Don Burgess (Forrest Gump) took over as director of photography on The Conjuring 2, which was digitally shot on Alexa and finished on a digital intermediate. As Burgess notes in the Blu-ray extras, what's hidden in Wan's carefully composed frames is just as important as what's seen. Many of Conjuring 2's scares derive from filling the screen with areas of indistinctness where a threat may or may not be lurking. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray faithfully reproduces these effects, deploying deep blacks and artfully obscuring shadows in service of Wan's and Burgess' visual strategy. The American scenes generally feature a rich and warm color palette, which contrasts with the dull and desaturated hues of the English settings, reflecting the poverty of the locale, the wintry season and the emotional drain caused by the demonic attack on the Hodgson family. (Note, though, how often a touch of red appears in the English scenes, a Wan trademark that is remarked upon in the extras.) The image is copiously detailed where it should be and conspicuously lacking in detail where little or none belongs. Noise, aliasing or other artifacts were nowhere to be seen. Warner has mastered The Conjuring 2 at an average bitrate of 22.54 Mbps, leaving 11 GB of unused space on the BD-50.

The Conjuring 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Conjuring 2 arrives with a Dolby Atmos track that effectively deploys the sounds of a haunting—or is it just an old house?—throughout the listening room. Creaks, moans, dripping water and abrupt knocking and pounding occur all around and also overhead. Deep bass extension emphasizes the low rumbling tones that sometimes (but not always) signal the approach of danger. Small but critical sounds—e.g., the pop of curtain rings as they are pulled, one by one, from their supporting rod—punch through the mix. The film's conclusion is a cacophony of lightning, wind, breaking glass and screaming cries for help. The dialogue is always clear, even when spoken by ghostly voices with distorted harmonics. Composer Joseph Bishara continues his scoring duties; his style and technique are the subject of a separate Blu-ray extra.

The Conjuring 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Crafting The Conjuring 2 (1080p; 1.78:1; 10:09): An array of cast and crew, including cinematographer Don Burgess, discuss the challenges of making a sequel to the original film.



• The Enfield Poltergeist: Living the Horror (1080p; 1.78:1; 12:46): The real Hodgson sisters, Janet and Margaret, in new interviews, recall their childhood experiences of the Enfield haunting. They also visit the set, where they are reunited with Lorraine Warren. Additional participants include Graham Morris, a photographer for the Daily Mirror who covered the original events; actresses Vera Farmiga and Franka Potente; screenwriters Carey and Chad Hayes and David Leslie Johnson; and director James Wan.



• Creating Crooked (1080p; 1.78:1; 6:44): This featurette describes the creation of one of the Enfield spirit's most unusual manifestations (which was invented for the film). Makeup effects artist Justin Raleigh describes creating the suit for "the Crooked Man", but the most memorable sight is that of the actor who wore it, Javier Botet, who is almost freakishly slim, especially for someone seven feet tall.



• The Conjuring 2: Hollywood's Haunted Stage (1080p; 1.78:1; 5:08): Paranormal investigator Johnny Matook, who is also a security guard at Warner studios, brings his ghost-hunting team to Stage 4, where the film was shot. According to Matook, the set itself is haunted by former crew members from the Twenties.



• The Sounds of Scare (1080p; 1.78:1; 7:00): Composer Joseph Bishara describes his approach to scoring the film.



• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2.35:1; 6:31): The four scenes are not separately listed or selectable. The most interesting shows the Hodgson children being mocked and bullied at school, after reports of their haunted home appear in the papers.



• Introductory Trailers: The film's trailer is not included. At startup, the disc plays a trailer for Lights Out, plus a new Warner promo for UHD discs (with an emphasis on the benefits of HDR).

The Conjuring 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Conjuring 2 will probably seem less derivative (and therefore more enjoyable) to viewers who are not intimately familiar with its sources. Even so, the film is about 15 minutes too long and would have benefited from sacrificing a few of its scares, the better to concentrate on its bigger moments. Filmmakers afflicted with "sequelitis" routinely go overboard in their attempt to top themselves, and Wan and his team have succumbed. However, for those who don't mind The Conjuring 2's flaws, the Blu-ray is a quality presentation and, accordingly, recommended.