The Conjuring 2

I'm giving this half a star more than I gave the first movie. As a horror film in its own rite, it's competently made, although somewhat predictable as it follows most of the traditional haunted house film tropes. But it is better than the first one in that it's a more cohesive film, with such corrections as how the background "monster" actually does play a part in the story, whereas in the first film Annabelle was shoehorned in but had nothing to do with the main story and served only as a distraction. Ultimately, the reason I can't rate this film higher is because it's about the Warrens, who were a couple of charlatans that took advantage of vulnerable and desperate people. While this is touched on briefly, it's done more in the context of people who don't believe them are all mean and unsympathetic. Again, it's a competently made horror film that's better than its predecessor, if a little predictable, but don't look at it as being based on a true story. Take it with a massive grain of salt.

Really solid sequel, and a re-watch before seeing the third film, in fact probably liked this one slightly better, with some good scares but better, a nice heart at the center with the relationship between Ed and Lorraine, played wonderfully by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Once again, craft-fully directed by James Wan, a style missing from the others in the 'Conjuring Universe', though the plots didn't help matters. **4.0/5**

This is rated "R" and it's hard to believe...but let's face it, scary movies just aren't that scary anymore. Not that many of them ever were. And even then few have actually provided the constant nightmares of The Exorcist... But The Conjuring 2 feels like it's going for the PG scares to not lose audiences. The potential is there, but the director is flying with one hand on the chicken switch and pulls out of everything that's not worse than a jump-scare. We have the potential for an actual psychologically thrilling horror story here, but its a wasted potential. Ultimately, like every other horror movie made of late, it seems afraid to actually frighten people. Still, it's better than the torture porn on the market