Conjuring 2 (2016)
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Writers: Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, James Wan, and David Johnson.
Cast: Vera Farminga (Lorraine Warren), Patrick Wilson (Ed Warren), Madison Wolfe (Janet Hodgson), Frances O'Connor (Peggy Hodgson), Lauren Esposito (Margaret Hodgson), Benjamin Haigh (Billy Hodgson), Patrick McAuley (Johnny Hodgson), Simon McBurney (Maurice Grosse), Maria Doyle Kennedy (Peggy Nottingham), Simon Delaney (Vic Nottingham), Franka Potente (Anita Gregory), and Bob Adrian as Bill Wilkins. With Robin Atkin Downes (Demon Voice), Bonnie Aarons (Demon Nun), Javier Botet (Crooked Man).
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Amityville, Long Island, New York, 1975. Ed (Patrick Wilson), and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farminga) are sitting with the Lutz family, they're experiencing paranormal activities, so the Warren's conduct a seance. Lorraine has a vision of the murders in the home, suddenly a demonic entity takes the form of a nun, a dying man is in her vision as well. A scream, then Lorraine is back to reality by her husband awakening her from vision.
Three years later in Enfield England.
Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) has four children, her youngest Janet Hodson (Madison Wolfe) is possessed by a spirit. The problem is dire, because the family as a whole witnesses strange paranormal occurrences which has drained the family to the point of no return. lack of sleep, verbal fights that destroys the unity. Peggy even had the police to inspect the house, which a chair moved on it's own, it went from one side to another, the situation scared the police, both leaving the house, in a quick pace.
The Warrens are invited to a popular talk show, discussing the Amityville situation, that had occurred with the Lutz Family. Ed went into the story, giving the host an example of what can happen to a family in the possession of an evil entity. The other guest on the show tells the audience that the case in Amityville was a hoax, and Lorraine's clairvoyance is somewhat on the unrealistic side, she just like the issues with the Lutz family was all staged. Ed is enraged, wants to continue, but can't, the other guest continues instead, giving both Lorraine, and their cases a hoax stamp, which isn't true, so Ed rebuttals what was said, but yet his wife Lorraine looks at him, calming him down. The Warren's at that point of their lives were considered a hoax, a guest with no knowledge of the paranormal, had deemed the the Lutz's case a hoax. But what the guest doesn't know is the testaments from the family, the accounts, recordings, all had been to real to the people that had witnessed the activity, it was not only paranormal, but a demonic entity had taken control, and knowing that puts Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) at a whole new advantage, but the guest continued with his rant.
"Come on, Bill. You're not a psychiatrist, and we're not here to talk about the father. What do you say we get down to buisness?" -Ed Warren
Meanwhile at the Warren household, Ed (Patrick Wilson) is painting a picture of what he had seen in a dream, a demonic picture of a nun. At that point Lorraine (Vera Farminga) is sucked into a vision by force, the demon had shown her Ed's death. At the same time she starts to write inside her bible, tearing each section of the book, as if something was aiding her, the strange presence of the demon upset her, she had seen her husband's death. The vision was so vivid, almost as if the creature had an alternative motives, it had brought me to the room with Ed's paintings, the demonic nun. The creature that had something behind her every move, a vision that was etched inside her mind forever.
Review: The introduction of characters in any story will always be a solid platform, it shows you the in and outs of the story, it is part of the development of the script, and the structures that will make or break a film. Without the intro, act one, introducing the characters, a basic understanding of the plot, the film suffers, because of lack of characterizations. The Conjuring was the main platform, Conjuring 2 in act one should be brief description of the characters, and their lives, without adding to much weight to the story. So this film, had a very brief recap of the first film, which is fine, but have something solid, no boring, long introduction, or suffer the box office price.
The main direction in this film was the Enfield paranormal events which the film was loosely based on. Ed and Lorraine Warren were there but only after the fact, it was the longest paranormal event recorded. It was also deemed as a hoax at one point; The investigators, and the Society For Psychical Research, inventor Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney), and writer Guy Lyon Playfair believed the haunting to be not a hoax. Others like Anita Gregory (Franka Potente), and John Beloff found evidence the girl had faked the incident for the attention of the cameras, and reporters. Ventriloquism was was used while Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe) was under the watchful eye of the investigators, afterwards the evidence was enough to point in the direction of the girl, who had manipulated the situation.
Despite negative press about the Enfield paranormal event, it later proved by investigators, that the young girl, was indeed an attention hound, and that the paranormal events were staged. Ed Warren disagreed with the lead investigators, he had recounted the numerous tapes recorded, the voices, and other paranormal situations that disrupted the Hodgson family. The video recordings at the time had caught the young girl jumping up and down on her bed, but it was supposedly a levitation. Ed had brought up enough to keep the events realistic, and the paranormal events in Enfield was not a hoax, the family did have paranormal problems.
Was the Enfield paranormal event real? The investigators had enough evidence that deemed it a hoax, but yet other investigators like The Warren's and the Society For Psychical Research that believed otherwise, but yet this case has been a stage for books, movies, an event so terrible that despite the feelings, people that lived in the home were effected by the event, a media circus, but yet the evidence was the accounts from the family, and their horror filled situations. The paranormal events did indeed happen. In the film, the demon had made the girl create a hoax, but yet the folks investigating saw the realities from the outside looking in. The threat was real to them, it happened. The chairs moved, objects would levitate, but yet the situations were not good enough, a family that soon will become possessed by a demon, the only thing that they have is each other, and hope.
The Warren's in the film were added, the whole Warren being part of the investigations was just added for creative licensing, like i said in the beginning, this film was loosely based off of the real Enfield paranormal event. Now as a film, it was done well, i love all the actors, they did a wonderful job. But i wanted to point out that the Warren's were not really a part of the Enfield hauntings, it was that bit of facts that came out first, because to me the Warren's are amazing, granted Ed died in 2006, but i would have rather these films be about their cases, and the help they give people. Not here to bring up facts, or whatever, i just wanted to state some facts, because it helped my point in my review. The film was a made up story, yes it had some of the investigators from the real Enfield home in London, it even brought in the church to bring in the Warren's so the link became real for the American paranormal team to investigate the situations, problems, evidence. They're both representatives of the church, only to observe, gather enough material so the church can intervene. The film did leave you with a sense of dread for the family, they even briefly went over the hoax, and the ventriloquism that the young girl was attempting. Again, all this was in the film, it made for a great story, and to me the film had their leads, which was Vera and Patrick, they make up a wonderful team.
The film was well done, it had great effects, acting as top notch, it even had some plot twists that were pretty good. The main problem i really have with the film is the nun, the demonic nun. I love the connection, but i would rather the story be told in the perceptive of the Warren's. have the Warren's gather their evidence, then afterwards like the story did, bring up the hoax, and then go with the entity that was controlling the situations. I guess being picky really can be a challenge, either way the film was good. Hopefully the next film tells us more about the Warren's and their cases that they indeed attend, without creative license.
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