‘The Conjuring 2’ Is All Jumps Scares And No Originality

‘Conjuring 2’ Proves If You’ve Seen One Haunting Then You’ve Seen Them All

While the supernatural scares are always popular with American horror audiences, ‘The Conjuring 2‘ shows how tired this genre is becoming.

The sequel to 2013’s ‘The Conjuring‘ follows the returning Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga) as they reluctantly take on another haunting. This time in gloomy North London. After dealing with the infamous Amityville case, the pair want a break. The paranormal activity that haunts the English family is enough to bring them out for one last investigation.

My biggest gripe with the film is the unoriginal plot being based around jump scares. I’ve never noticed how lazy these supernatural moments come off until you see doors being locked just for some weak tension. If the film focused more on original elements and less on cliches, it would have been a far more entertaining experience. ‘Conjuring 2‘ felt like a carbon-copy of the first film.

And who was asking for that pointless scene of Patrick Wilson singing Elvis? The whole theater was on the edge of their seat for that…

It isn’t all negative though. There was a scene with a creepy painting that unnerved me. Very rarely can a scare be built that well and this was a great example of how to do it. The film needs far more inventive new spooks like that.

Also the acting from everyone involved was so honest. The fear was believable, the humor was natural, and the chemistry between Wilson & Farmiga is undeniable.

‘Conjuring 2′ isn’t downright deplorable but needs to change its ways. Director James Wan (Saw, Insidious, Furious 7, Aquaman) has banked on his horror formula for years now. If he wants to make impactful genre pieces though, there has to be some sort of re-invention within this supernatural horror genre.

Do you agree with my review? Will you be seeing ‘The Conjuring 2‘?

Let me know in the comments below!