Jason from MNPP taking a brief breather between your pre nomination Oscar jitters with a look at the recently dropped trailer for James Wan's Conjuring sequel, creatively titled The Conjuring 2.
I was less bullish (my review) on the 2013 original than most horror movie fans were and indeed than several contributors here at TFE - I'm more of an Insidious guy myself when it comes to the ghost worlds o' Wan - but I do think that Wan's gotten better as a filmmaker with the years, and he sure knows how to goose a good scare out of an audience.
Anyway let's break down the good the bads and the maybes here after the jump...
YES
Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga -- Speaking of things getting better with age, both of these actors have been giving the performances of their careers on TV, with Wilson wowing as a vision of decency in well-tailored red pants on Fargo and Farmiga blowing the roof off the Bates Motel with her every perfectly tuned eye-buggin' freak-fest. In the first film they proved they have a wonderful lived-in chemistry, and I look forward to seeing where the sequel drags them, kicking and/or screaming (probably both).
The Scares -- The trailer gives away a couple, which is always a fine line for horror movie trailers to walk - they have to let you know that something scary will happen, but you don't want the best moment ruined beforehand. The opening dialogue scene between Farmiga and the little girl is creepy enough, and the great jump-scare at the tail-end highlights Wan's finest skill as a horror film-maker - his unexpected use of space.
He's a first-rate ace at leading your eye in one direction - in this case towards those turning crosses - and then flinging something at you from where you're not looking. But the most terrifying moment in this trailer is a single quick shot included in the sequences of flashes at this middle...
NIGHTMARES NIGHTMARES THIS SHOT FROM THE CONJURING 2 TRAILER IS NIGHTMARES pic.twitter.com/R0pkG4LLrg
— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) January 7, 2016
I don't even know WHAT I am looking at there, some kind of Freddy Kreuger with rubber fingers or something, but that makes it all the better. It's an image sucked right out of our collective horror unconscious - it actually makes me think of the sleep paralysis doc The Nightmare and all the talk therein of a horrible terrible not very good Shadow Man. Whatever it is, it is TERRIFYING.
NO
Not Martin Landau - How is that not Martin Landau? I was all set to include "Martin Landau" as a "YES" but then I did some research and that is Not Martin Landau! It's apparently an actor named Bob Adrian, and no offense to him but I'm still not convinced that's not a Martin Landau alias. I mean look at him!
More Exorcisty - Part of why I tend to favor the Insidious films is they're the more secular Poltergiest inspired lot, and that's just a personal preference - "religion" is often used by horror films (oh, and the real world too!) as a faerie dust to fill in the blanks and I prefer The Void and meaninglessness. ("I Love Meaninglessness!" is my mantra.) There appears to be even more leaning on Christian imagery with this film - besides all the crosses in the trailer just look at the poster at left!
MAYBE SO
Franka Potente - The terrific German actress is apparently in this, but I don't know who her character is (the mother of the children we see in the trailer is played by Frances O'Connor) and I don't think we see her in the trailer. So I am afraid she will continue being woefully under-used and I'll have to just go watch Run Lola Run for the billionth time to get my fix.
The Enfield Poltergeist -- This real world ghost story from the 1970s is apparently the inspiration for the film and it's a good one, but it's already been used for a kick-ass horror film - if you've never seen the BBC's 1992 horror mockumentary Ghostwatch find yourself a copy with great haste! It pre-dates The Blair Witch Project by seven years and tricked an entire generation of Brits, so much so that it was banned for ten years from the channel. You'll never heard the word "Pipes" again without shuddering. But multiple successes can be based on the same story, of course - Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are both "based on" serial killer Ed Gein and look at how uniquely brilliant those both turned out!
The Conjuring 2 is out on June 10th -- will you be there?