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Trailer Trashin’: More Fact-Based Period Horror in The Conjuring 2 Teaser Trailer

Timothy Monforton

Hello again, dear readers. I hope the year is off to a good start for all of you. It’s coming to you later than I intended, but here’s the first Trailer Trashin’ column of 2016. Now let’s take a look at the teaser trailer for director James Wan’s upcoming horror sequel The Conjuring 2.

Premise: Husband and wife paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.

My take: Ever since I first saw The Conjuring (2013), it’s been one of my favorite horror movies. Inspired by the work of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, it was a smartly written, sharply directed film with good scares, a talented cast playing characters we actually cared about, and which made good use of its period 1970s setting. It was well received by critics and made quite a bundle at the box office, so a sequel was almost guaranteed. After some delays and the spinoff film Annabelle (2014), that sequel is finally on its way, this one based on the Enfield Poltergeist haunting that supposedly occurred in London in the late 1970s. The first teaser for The Conjuring 2 has arrived, and it looks like a worthy follow-up to the original.

A big part of why The Conjuring worked so well was the performances of and chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, and they’re thankfully both back for the sequel. Also returning from the first film are Shannon Kook as Drew Thomas (the Warrens’ assistant) and Sterling Jerins as Judy Warren (Ed and Lorraine’s daughter). The little girl Lorraine is talking to is Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe), one of the four children in the family being haunted by the Enfield Poltergeist. Only briefly seen in this teaser is Frances O’Connor, who plays Peggy Hodgson, the matriarch of the Hodgson family. Also in the cast are Simon McBurney as Maurice Grosse and Franka Potente as Anita Gregory, two of the real-life investigators who were involved in the case.

One of the things I liked the most about The Conjuring was how the filmmakers paced the scares, letting the tension build up before unleashing something horrific on the audience. While a number of “big” moments are cut together for the montage in the middle of the teaser, the extended bits involving Janet are more what I’m looking for. The moment where she wakes up and realizes she’s somehow on the ceiling is really freaky. And the final moment of the teaser, where all the crosses on the wall slowly turn upside down and then the hideous figure lunges out of the shadows, is a great beat to end on.

All in all, this teaser really has me looking forward to the movie. Most of the key players from the first film are back, and it looks like they’re going to give us some more great scares. When early June rolls around, I will definitely be seeing The Conjuring 2 at my local theater.

ANTICIPATION: This looks like a scary good time.

Release Date: June 10th, 2016

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Simon McBurney, Franka Potente, Frances O’Connor, Madison Wolfe, Lauren Esposito, Patrick McAuley, Benjamin Haigh, Shannon Kook, Sterling Jerins, Steve Coulter, Abhi Siha, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and Simon Delaney
Director: James Wan
Writers: Chad Hayes, Carey Hayes, James Wan, and David Leslie Johnson

Timothy Monforton

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