One of my favourite horror films is Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon, from 1957. The film is an atmospheric chiller, following the investigation into a satanic cult that may be responsible for a string of murders. Famously, the director wanted to keep the demonic element strictly metaphorical but producer Hal E. Chester insisted on the introduction of a very literal and very ropey looking demon. It doesn’t quite spoil the film but the sight of a man in a furry demon suit provokes more titters than gasps. You would think that in the age of state of the art CGI, such things would be a thing of the past but it’s quite the opposite; bad make-up is still the scourge of many a horror film, including James Wan’s latest, The Conjuring 2.
To begin with though, the film is refreshingly restrained. It is 1977 and we meet a working class family living in London. Single mother Peggy (Frances O’Connor) is struggling to look after her four children after the sudden departure of their father. To add to an already difficult situation, strange things begin to happen in the house. These ghostly manifestations seem to be focused on Peggy’s youngest daughter, Janet (Madison Wolfe). As the presence becomes more violent, the Catholic Church call in paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga).
When the Warrens show up on the scene, the film takes a turn into over the top, Hollywood territory but in those earlier sections, the film pulls off some pretty memorable, subtle scares. Wan holds off on actually showing us anything concrete for a commendably long time and the ‘70s London setting is convincingly bleak and makes a nice change from the small-town America we see in so many ghostly tales. The performances are strong, particularly from American actress Madison Wolfe, whose London accent is pitch perfect.
Unfortunately, as the film progresses, Wan begins to throw everything he can think of at the screen, diffusing any tension that had been built up. The inclusion of a demonic nun (in dodgy face-paint) and the ludicrous manifestation of “The Crooked Man” just detract from the simple, gripping story of the Enfield haunting. All of this is not to say that Wan isn't a talented genre director – he certainly knows how to compose scenes of action. His work in The Conjuring 2 however, is very much a game of two halves. The result is an entertaining, mainstream horror film that will give some chills but won't leave you sleeping with the light on.