Remember back in the day when everything M. Night Shyamalan touched was gold? After The Sixth Sense he became the "rejuvinator of horror" after a mid-90s lull that was very slasher heavy with films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. His name was a neon sign on every poster that promised not only terrifying films, but well written ones as well. It wasn't until The Village that he started to lose that tag. Then, after The Happening, there was no "master of horror" any longer. That title ended up making its way to Eli Roth... who I very much like... but I wouldn't put him anywhere near a master of horror. Then, in the midst of the torture porn reign of the mid 00s, James Wan gave us Saw. Now, Saw didn't necessarily pave the way for Wan's type of horror, but it was the first entry into a great career as a horror director. Following Saw came Insidious and The Conjuring. Both were very good horror films. What Wan does with the atmosphere and the creepy characters he invents is something special. He's Hitchcock with a very prolific makeup artist. He doesn't shock you with gore. He doesn't attack you with cheap jump scares. He's just out to scare the shit out of you any way possible. It worked in Insidious. It worked in The Conjuring. And it definitely works in The Conjuring 2.
Insidious 2 wasn't nearly as good as the first one, but Wan went a different direction. He was looking more at the mythology of the world surrounding the story and less about trying to scare his audience. There were still some great scares, but not nearly as terrifying and effective as the first one. He went back to his roots with The Conjuring, but nothing was overdone. In most of the movie it was almost subtle horror partnered with some very creepy moments. The Conjuring 2 forgoes all subtlety and goes balls out to not only entertain, but literally try to make you shit yourself in fear. Six years after the events of the first film, Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are back and called to Enfield, England to help a family with a little poltergeist problem. The Catholic church has decided to bring them in to decide whether or not the paranormal events occurring in the house are, indeed, real or if it's just another elaborate hoax. Inside the house is the Hodgson family and the youngest daughter, Janet is getting all kinds of terrorized. So, the Annabelle doll busters (please don't equate the movie Annabelle to The Conjuring... it has about as much relation to that movie as Son of the Mask does to The Mask) step in to do a little "this house is clean"-ing.
What could've ended up being a typical haunted house movie elevates itself above the rest with a great script, some very capable young actors, and a wonderful director who should never stop making horror movies. What separates Wan's films from other throwaway haunted/poltergeist/possession movies is that he, first, acknowledges horror tropes and then gives them an ironic reversal. Standard haunted-kid fare dictates that kid sees ghost, tells parents, ghosts hide, parents don't believe kid until it's too late. Not this fucker. This ghost DGAF's about who sees this haunting. The minute the mother is brought in to look under the bed, the shit hits the fan. Then, there's also that slow build up in most horror movies that reaches a climax of ultimate terror (or cheese, depending on the film). Not this movie. It begins with a fright and doesn't let go. It's not a roller coaster ride, because at least on a roller coaster there are moments of levity. This is like being stuck upside down on a roller coaster and if you fall out, there's a meadow of knives waiting for you.
Then, there's just the aura surrounding the movie. Wan does so much with a simple steady shot on screen. In every scene there's always a bit of shadow lurking around the corner that your eyes keep darting to because you know there's something ominous hanging out waiting to strike. When he's not focused on a close-up shot of someone making you question what the hell is just on the outside of the screen-- he's closely following the character. You don't get any extra view of what the character can't see. You get to establish and escalate your own fear as the character does in real time. This raises the stakes and the fear factor within the film. The main entity in the film is a demon dressed as clergy and, it might've just been me, it was effective enough that it didn't have to pop out of any corners (though it does a few times), just being on screen for a brief period of time sent goosebumps down my arms.
And yes, there are a few jump scares, but they don't feel cheap. After ten solid minutes of just dread and terror, Wan throws one in to not only make you scream, but immediately make you laugh. It's like the peak of each scene. Get your heart beating, get your brow sweating, get your hands clammy, BOOM, a moment to laugh it off before we rinse and repeat. Farmiga and Wilson are both great, once again, and the actress who plays little Janet is also fantastic with a lot of the film riding on her shoulders, she carries it successfully. My only complaint with the movie is just a small one. In Wan's horror films he uses very minimal, if any, computer animation (as far as the ghosts go) and sticks with good old fashioned scary music and makeup. In one scene, there is a child's toy with a drawn man inside which manifests itself into a walking, stalking being and it does look a bit cheesy. It's a scary idea that should've added to the intensity of the film, but it just felt a little fake and cornbally-y. Other than that, it was very chilling.
James Wan is our master of horror right now. And he's been so good and so successful that we're not going to get another Wan horror for awhile (he's currently working on Aquaman). So, unless he pulls a Shyamalan, we're just going to have to wait. He's not every one's cup of tea, either. If you didn't like Insidious or the first The Conjuring, then it's highly doubtful that you'll enjoy this one either. I'm just a huge fan because these movies, especially this one, actually do scare me. This is no easy feat. There's a certain combination of atmosphere, intensity, creativity, uniqueness, and all around effectiveness of a scary movie to actually get me frightened, and Wan has done this-- several times. These are movies that have the feel of the old Hitchcock 50s quiet but deadly era, but revamped for a 2016 audience. I, for one, hope that once he's done making the big bucks with Marvel, he'll be back to try and scare us again.
A-
No comments:
Post a Comment