The Conjuring 2 Review: 6 Ups And 2 Downs

1. It's Genuinely Scary

The Conjuring 2 has one key purpose: to scare you. It could fail in every other department (it doesn't, but it could) and if you had a chill up your spine then could still be called a success. And boy does it succeed at that. Tension is carefully built up and paid off in suitably spine-tingling fashion masterfuly.

It's not crippling horror. You won't be spending nights staring at the end of your bed imagining a ghoul ready to possess you (although some images are pretty hard to shake). But it does shake you with its sheer inventiveness and relentlessness. In contrast to recent hits in the genre (think The Babadook and It Follows), The Conjuring 2 is popcorn horror. But what popcorn horror it is.

This is one to watch with an audience. In my screening there were assorted giggles to begin with, but as the film got its claws in a fearful silence fell over the crowd and by the end even the biggest cynic was shook.