When you appreciate the story of a horror movie more than you enjoy getting scared, this tells something about the movie. Something good.
The Conjuring 2 gives you several hold-your-breath scenes without hardly getting disappointed at the end note, as the film gets you right in the middle of a suspense situation that sometimes you'd just find yourself laughing at how the scenes get to you.
Yes, I heard people's muffled laughters at the movie house as they found themselves getting scared at some of the suspense scenes in the movie. I, admittedly, was one of them.
There are several factors behind the movie's $242.9-million box office success. Below are the top reasons why The Conjuring 2 got us totally blown away.
#10: No Dull Moment
Some horror movies have this need to build up the story embarking on a long narrative and endless descriptive scenes. This is not the case for The Conjuring 2. The discussions were kept to a minimum and the audience were most of the time made to hang on every word in the conversations.
According to Variety, it was director James Wan's talent "that makes the creaky conventions scary."
Variety added: "In 'The Conjuring 2,' Wan doesn't exactly rewrite the book on how to stage a spectral pulp shocker. Telling the story of Peggy Hodgson (played by Frances O'Connor) and her four children, Wan digs into a standard playbook of spook-show gambits."
#9: Choice of Songs
Eerie best describes the way "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" was used in the movie. Of course, this was not the first time a Christmas song was used in suspense or horror films. For instance, 1984 movie Gremlins' use of "Do You Hear What I Hear" spelled c-r-e-e-p-y.
The Hollies' "Bus Stop" added an idyllic feel-good mood in the scene, possibly telling viewers to "relax."
Ed Warren (played by Patrick Wilson) playing Elvis original "Can't Help Falling in Love" had the audience fall in love with him and his accord with his wife, Lorraine (played by Vera Farmiga).
#8: Non-Distracting Attempts at Comedy
Some movies would use this cheap trick, not just the suspense films - that they deliberately add an idiotic character or someone totally obnoxious to keep a good balance of the audience mood. This is not the case in The Conjuring 2.
Of the non-distracting attempts to balance the film's atmosphere, two stood out.
First was with the use of Bee Gees' "I Started a Joke," when Janet (played by Madison Wolfe) was revealed to be staging some of her "possessed scenes."
Second was when neighbor Vic Nottingham (played by Simon Delaney) was shown trying to get in the basement of the Hodgsons through the door crack that he made, but he wouldn't fit.
#7: End Credits
Even the end credits were spooky, as the the film showed pictures of the actual characters of the story, thus telling the audience that "this happens in real life."
I remember I stood up early on the onset of the end credits to get away with the exiting crowd, just to find myself stopping to see and savor some more of the spookiness.
Relive the end credits' spookiness below.
#6: Moral Story Injected
Getting moral stories from movies is on the subjective side but in The Conjuring 2, the obvious lesson is the one delivered by Ed Warren as he was speaking with Billy (played by Benjamin Haigh): "The spirit in this house is a lot like that bully, so you're gonna stick up to her (referring to Janet) the way they (referring to Billy's brother and two sisters) stick up to you."
Sticking up to your brothers and sisters or sticking up to those who stick up to you is a line that a lot of people can relate to. And that's just what the Hodgson family did.
#5: Based on True Events
To the surprise of some viewers, The Conjuring 2 is based on true events. This is probably why the end credits hold such effect on some of the audience to stay.
Just like in every movie that were inspired by true events (same with movies adapted from novels), there were some deviations from the actual Enfield haunting case. For these deviations on the The Conjuring 2, you can go to this website called History vs Hollywood.
#4: The Warrens' Empathy
When Lorraine was trying to engage in a conversation with Janet and Janet finally started opening up, Lorraine asked how Janet was holding up.
"I'm just so tired" was Janet's response revealing how the ordeal of an experience has exhausted her both physically and emotionally.
Lorraine's response was a gem, as she shared her similar story to Janet, leading to her meeting Ed and the two getting married.
Later on in the movie, Ed was shown telling the same story to Janet, only this time Janet concluded the story for Ed.
#3: The Walking Shadow Scene
There were a lot of really scary scenes on the movie but this one takes the cake.
So you're inside a room where this disturbing image of a nun from your psychic spouse's dream looms. The door just shut close, the light by the painting has been turning on and off on its own then you see a shadow of a nun slowing walking towards the painting - and the shadow appears to be coming right from you as if it is your own.
As the shadow reaches the painting, there's an eerie pause as if the entity was enjoying watching your every breath. Then the moment your impatience gets mixed with your anxiety, the painting lunges at you knocking you back on the floor but in a different room.
#2: Triumph of Good Over Evil
For most films, it shouldn't matter who wins, good or evil, but the presentation has to justify.
In The Conjuring 2, the audience was bred with fear of Ed's death as shown in one of Lorraine's premonitions.
The scene showing the curtain rings getting busted one by one as Ed hung for his life and Janet's while Lorraine was fighting off the taunting demon Valak, was a heart-pounding climax.
This climax reportedly killed a 65-year-old man in India at a movie house.
The build up of that part of the story, leading to Lorraine sending the demon back to hell, was a feat both for the film itself and for the audience. Back at the cinema when I was watching, some of the audience actually clapped in relief when the demon was vanquished in time to save Ed and Janet.
#1: The Nun Painting
I'm not a psychic, I don't have premonitions and I don't have any sort of mystic power so painting that nun from a nightmare - let alone hanging the painting at my study - wouldn't make sense to me.
It's a rare accomplishment for horror films to create a really scary image without using gore and blood. That nun image is something I would never want in my dreams - nor when I'm awake. There's just something ominously wrong if a demon takes on an image of a member of the church, and that which wears a crucifix!
The last time I remember achieving this same effect on an image from a horror film was with the Japanese 1998 horror movie The Ring.
And this nun has just started. So scary, the nun will have her own spin off.
Photos: BuzzFeed
Share It To Your Friends!
