MovieChat Forums > The Conjuring 2 (2016) Discussion > The Emperor has no clothes (spoiler)

The Emperor has no clothes (spoiler)


*SPOILER WARNING*


James Wan serves up another copy and paste, formulated, watered down mess of a film for the lowest common denominators in society.

The most I've heard from people worshipping this hack and praising The Conjuring 2 is "it made so much money, money=substance and artistic merit. It's rated 10004545454504545000% on some rigged *beep* website like this one. He is da best, screw you, you hater. The paid critics said this movie is good".


I'm genuinely asking people what makes this movie in any way shape or form 'good'? It is so devoid of creativity and thought. Most of the 'scary' scenes were cheap jump scares (Wan's trademark) accompanied by a loud bass thump or someone yelling. This is obviously the extent of Wan's creative ability. He's incapable of creating tension or atmosphere, and still insists on showing stupid antagonists with painted faces.


The religious theme annoyed me as well. It's not because I am an atheist, its just been done to death. Where is the ambiguity? Why is every event in his movies spoon fed to the audience and explained? Wan needs to learn that what you don't see is scarier. The fear of the unknown.

Where does it say that producing a crucifix will ward of something you have no possibility of ever explaining? Maybe the supernatural experience you are enduring is from space? Or another dimension that is not related to religion what so ever?

You only really have to focus on the ending of The Conjuring 2 to see the juvenile mind of James Wan. Edd Warrens demise was supposed to involve falling from a top floor window and being impaled by a tree branch??? LOL.


And apparently once Lorraine knew the demons name she was able to send it packing to where it came from. What????

Cue happy sentimental ending dancing to Elvis Presley.......dear oh dear.







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I'm in complete agreement. An awful mess of a film.

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It's mentally taxing seeing such sub-mediocre detritus being hailed as a masterpiece these days. Standards have absolutely plummeted.

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[deleted]

I love Vera Farmiga but she deserves better roles... this movie sucked. The crooked man was pretty cool, but the script, pacing, mood, was so now you see it now you don't, you need to wash the original Poltergeist to watch the taste of a James Wan film out of your mouth.






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I love Vera Farmiga but she deserves better roles... this movie sucked. The crooked man was pretty cool, but the script, pacing, mood, was so now you see it now you don't, you need to watch the original Poltergeist to watch the taste of a James Wan film out of your mouth.



The movie did suck, yet people who claim it to be some kind of masterpiece have never seen a decent film in their life because they have no point of reference. All they do is regurgitate the same mundane sub par movies like The Witch, It Follows etc etc that other people like them mention. And while everyone has the right to like them and say they are good, to claim they are 'amazing' or the best horror films in the last blah blah years is just laughable and insulting to horror films that wipe the floor with them, but never get the recognition that they deserve.

I will always reference The Entity as one of those films truly lacking the recognition is deserves. But I guess these millennials haven't seen it because it's pre 2000. Only recent stuff is ever mentioned with most of them.

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Ah an old grandpa here who hates popular, critically acclaimed horror films in the 2000's.

BTW, they may not be your cup of tea, but The Conjuring, the Witch, and It Follows are not horrible films in any sense of the word. Saying they're god awful is just being stupid and not having an understanding about the genre. It's ok to not like them, but calling them trash just shows you haven't left the 80's.

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Ah an old grandpa here who hates popular, critically acclaimed horror films in the 2000's.


Sorry to disappoint you, but I am 31. Not quite a pensioner yet. So I take it you only see whats shoved in your face, from the Herculean efforts of the marketeers and their minions? A paid shill tells you its great and its rated top dog on a well known rigged site (including this one) and bobs your uncle, you regurgitate what they say.

I could care less about ratings, reviews and profit, I want to know why you think any of those movies should be rated higher than 5/10? Please do give me an in depth explanation, rather than parroting everyone else of the same ilk. Cheers.




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dude these are horror films that are generally loved by the horror community and most people in them who know their *beep*

You saying IT is one of your favorite horror movies of all time is laughable. And the book is my favorite book of all time in the horror category, it's a masterpiece onto its own

The movie though is just...just awful. Terrible. Cheesy. Bad. Half of the special effects are a joke, some of the worst made for tv effects out there. Anyone with half a brain can see that it
follows and the witch are miles ahead of IT. And remember, I worship the book as a masterpiece. The movie was just a cheesy 90's made for tv film, other than the opening scene.

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dude these are horror films that are generally loved by the horror community and most people in them who know their *beep*

You saying IT is one of your favorite horror movies of all time is laughable. And the book is my favorite book of all time in the horror category, it's a masterpiece onto its own

The movie though is just...just awful. Terrible. Cheesy. Bad. Half of the special effects are a joke, some of the worst made for tv effects out there. Anyone with half a brain can see that it
follows and the witch are miles ahead of IT. And remember, I worship the book as a masterpiece. The movie was just a cheesy 90's made for tv film, other than the opening scene



Did you miss the part where I said some of my fave films were cheesy? There are many good scenes in IT, there is also atrocious acting and hilarious moments. But it's funny how I'm able to point that out straight away isn't it?

The Witch was dog $hit. Over hyped over and over again just like It Follows. Neither were any good at all. I suppose 'Black Phillip" terrified you?

I noticed the likes of you only reference those two bull$hit movies just like anyone else. Is this your basis for comparison?


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You should also take into account that films such as The Witch and It Follows are so desperate for attention and ratings they pay to be over hyped and NEED the hype to get peoples attention. I lost count how many times Bloody Disgusting blatantly pitched the Witch in almost every god damn facebook post of theirs before the release. And Robert Eggers banging on about what ISO setting he used for the dark scenes and his colour grading technique "ohhh yaaah I went for the washed out look" . Choosing the Alexa camera for its 'colour palette' yet barely grading his footage. What was the point? It was religious trite. If you found The Witch scary I feel sorry for you.

To me, it played off as a drama and I was so glad when that insufferable woman died at the end.


All style and no substance.





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No, The Witch was one of the best horror films in years.
Your taste is abysmal, mate.

You insult brilliantly made horrors and then state IT as one of your favourite films? lol
You embarrass yourself.

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Sure it's not because you're an atheist..

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Sure it's not because you're an atheist..



Thanks for reading my 'hated it' review as well. Much appreciated.

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I also am an atheist was has long recognized the Warrens as hucksters. But you need to put those things aside when watching movies like this. It's the same kind of thing you do when you watch Game of Thrones.

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I also am an atheist was has long recognised the Warrens as hucksters. But you need to put those things aside when watching movies like this. It's the same kind of thing you do when you watch Game of Thrones.


I have nothing against religious people at all, each to their own, I was just stating that I didn't like the religion aspect because it's so over done and trite, not because I am a religion hating atheist. (Which I am not.)






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Agreed, horror sure as hell isn't James Wan's strong suit, that's for sure. I hope he has a better knack for superhero films...

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I can totally see what you're getting at, even if I don't hate the movie anywhere near as much as you do.

I really wished there were more subtle background scares, but they barely ever happenned, most of it was too in your face.

However I totally disagree that James Wan can't create atmosphere, or that every single scare is a jumpscare. In the first movie, the clapping scene I felt was done totally well and was perfectly atmospheric. In this one, the scene in which Loraine ends up staring at the painting of 'the nun'. Or even when Bill moves his toy car in and out of the tent in the home, you could argue that the noises the car made were jumpscares, personally I didn't feel that way.

Movie lacks subtlety, and all non-horror bits (expositional talk etc.) feel very cliche.

That being said, I just wouldn't judge this movie based on its 'artistic' merit. It's not artistic and neither does it try to be. An entertaining movie with some thrills and scares, just what I expected, and I think, anyone should expect going to a Wan movie.

Oh and also, knowing a demon's is a very common trope that essentially allows you to control it. It's silly, but it's not like the movie made it up, just followed old guidelines.

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I can totally see what you're getting at, even if I don't hate the movie anywhere near as much as you do.

I really wished there were more subtle background scares, but they barely ever happenned, most of it was too in your face.

However I totally disagree that James Wan can't create atmosphere, or that every single scare is a jumpscare. In the first movie, the clapping scene I felt was done totally well and was perfectly atmospheric. In this one, the scene in which Loraine ends up staring at the painting of 'the nun'. Or even when Bill moves his toy car in and out of the tent in the home, you could argue that the noises the car made were jumpscares, personally I didn't feel that way.

Movie lacks subtlety, and all non-horror bits (expositional talk etc.) feel very cliche.

That being said, I just wouldn't judge this movie based on its 'artistic' merit. It's not artistic and neither does it try to be. An entertaining movie with some thrills and scares, just what I expected, and I think, anyone should expect going to a Wan movie.

Oh and also, knowing a demon's is a very common trope that essentially allows you to control it. It's silly, but it's not like the movie made it up, just followed old guidelines.



The problem is his 'build ups' are flimsy, weak and entirely predictable. He pointlessly drags out scenes like when the little boy pushes the toy into the tent. We all know as he goes in to investigate that something is going to happen. And all James Wan did was blow my eardrums out with a voice yelling. Why bother building up a scene to end it with another jump scare? Real horror sinks into your subconscious while you are watching it, and it affects you long after seeing the film. There is nothing to think about after you leave the cinema with The Conjuring. Real horror creates tension, atmosphere, dread, intrusive thoughts etc etc.

And there is no ambiguity. I hate that in horror films that claim to be original and groundbreaking. Everything today is spoon fed to the audience yet they still lap it up like lemmings.

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Personally I don't have a problem with a movie being predictable, I care more for whether it makes me forget its predictability and just be in the moment. However there's plenty that don't do that and I totally share your feelings in some cases.

I am really curious, what are some of your favourite horror movies?

Anyway, I didn't hear anything about Conjuring being original or groundbreaking, just more of the same, but more well done than some other way crappier movies out there. Whoever says that it is some great achievement of horror is really just lying.

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Personally I don't have a problem with a movie being predictable, I care more for whether it makes me forget its predictability and just be in the moment. However there's plenty that don't do that and I totally share your feelings in some cases.

I am really curious, what are some of your favourite horror movies?

Anyway, I didn't hear anything about Conjuring being original or groundbreaking, just more of the same, but more well done than some other way crappier movies out there. Whoever says that it is some great achievement of horror is really just lying.



It's just really saddening to read so many posts on the board here from people that think James Wan is the Stanley Kubrick of Horror. You have to be seriously mentally impaired to make a statement like "James Wan is redefining horror'. (This was a post from someone else, including similar statements from Total Film or Bloody Disgusting on Facebook, I can't remember which). And so many people agreeing and fawning. Does no one else see how standards today are so pathetically low?

My favourite horror movies are (including some cheesy ones) The Entity, Jacobs Ladder, The Shining, The Thing (John Carpenter), An American Werewolf in London, Alien, Aliens, Evil Dead II, Hellraiser, The Fly, Jaws, IT (granted, theres some dodgy acting in it but some of the scary scenes are great), The Dark Side of the Moon, and The Haunted, a really well made 1991 tv movie. Theres prob quite a few titles ive forgotten to mention but this will do for now.


The Entity is probably the most unnerving movie I have seen. How about you? Whats your favourite horror movies?

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My favourite horror movies are (including some cheesy ones) The Entity, Jacobs Ladder, The Shining, The Thing (John Carpenter), An American Werewolf in London, Alien, Aliens, Evil Dead II, Hellraiser, The Fly, Jaws, IT (granted, theres some dodgy acting in it but some of the scary scenes are great)

All great horror movies. As are the Conjuring movies. 

CG gore is the worst thing that has ever happened to the horror genre.

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Complaining that a horror movie is just a collection of jump scares is like complaining that a comedy act is just a collection of punchlines.



If you say so lol.

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Frankly people who say that know even less about horror than I do, and I know pretty much nothing.

My list is pretty small, since I've only mostly scene the newer movies. I love The Shining myself as well as Alien, I thought [rec] was really well made. Sinister won me over pretty much because of the ending (and the fact that it takes 30 minutes for anything 'supernatural' to happen). And you will absolutely hate this, but I like the Insidious trilogy, it's full of everything you disliked about the conjuring, however in the third movie, an old lady hits a ghost and says "Come at me, bitch" and how can you not love that.

Anyway, I'll check out The Entity! It's about time I saw some genuinely good horror movies.

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Frankly people who say that know even less about horror than I do, and I know pretty much nothing.

My list is pretty small, since I've only mostly scene the newer movies. I love The Shining myself as well as Alien, I thought [rec] was really well made. Sinister won me over pretty much because of the ending (and the fact that it takes 30 minutes for anything 'supernatural' to happen). And you will absolutely hate this, but I like the Insidious trilogy, it's full of everything you disliked about the conjuring, however in the third movie, an old lady hits a ghost and says "Come at me, bitch" and how can you not love that.

Anyway, I'll check out The Entity! It's about time I saw some genuinely good horror movies.


Rec was one of the movies I forgot to mention. I liked that too. Shame about the crappy American remake Quarantine. The list I mentioned was probably mostly mainstream at the time, but they were damn good, well made films. But I can also see and admit alot of the bad acting/cheesy scenes etc in some of them. I really like Peter Jacksons Braindead (Dead Alive). Bad Taste wasn't as good but it was still a good laugh. I'm not sure what Braindead is, horror gore comedy possibly? If you havnt seen it yet you should check it out. The rat monkey scene and the baby in the part scene are funny as hell.

I come across as a film snob I suppose, but The conjuring 2 just fits in correlation with alot of other things that has gotten my back up recently. (I.e Sub mediocre movies. music and people being over rated to the extreme). The Conjuring 2 should just come under cheap entertainment. Nothing godly or superb, but just made to thrill popcorn munchers in the cinema.

The problem we face is that if these sub mediocre/mediocre creations are hailed as something they are not, standards drop and as time goes on they get worse and worse and worse, to the point of being completely unwatchable unless you are a person who jsut doesnt give a $hit about standards anymore. (I don't mean you, just anyone in general with that complacent mind set.)


And then, could you really justify spending up to $20 at the cinema to watch something that completely insults your intelligence?

Anyway, I'm rambling.. Yeah, give The Entity a go and let me know what you think of it.You can easily watch it online like most filmshehe.

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Hi. Agree with you on conjuring. Such a formulaic jump scare lunapark. Not so much agreement on it follows or witch. I liked both. But nonetheless very much like other movies you mentioned, such as braindead,shinning,jacob ledder,warewolf in london and others. Never heard about entity, will check it out. And as a fan of the genre myself, i like to share some of my favorites.
Psychological - Don't Look Now, Angst, audition, Berberian Sound Studio, Spalovac mrtvol, Ich seh ich seh, Calvaire, Angustia, Session 9, magic
Fun and creative - brain damage, Murder Party, Sightseers, Pumpkinhead, Clown (2014), El día de la bestia, Dellamorte Dellamore, Peeping Tom, The Company of Wolves, Haute tension, riget (trier)
Vampires - addiction, martin, Shadow of the Vampire, Låt den rätte komma in,
Surreal - Eraserhead, tetsuo, any Jan Svankmajer movie, gozu, repulsion, Tras el cristal

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Awwww, yeah it is so saddening that there are people out there who don't agree with you, right? lol Deal with it.

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I wasn't all that impressed with the first Conjuring honestly but this sequel was even more mediocre.

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Why are you telling me?

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Shut up, you TROLL.

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Shut up, you TROLL.



Great input, thanks.

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Here's why I thought it was a really good movie.

* The tense atmosphere. I thought Wan did a great job of directing the actors and made it seem like he was really putting them in an uncomfortable and eerie atmosphere which made the scary parts really genuine. Bad acting can literally make any attempts to scare the audience totally worthless. Wan is responsible for this and why I thought the scary parts were so scary

* The unpredictability and creativity of the scary scenes. Apart from a few parts (doors slamming shut - the horror movie's best friend.. and loud banging), I thought there was a lot of creativity on how he managed to scare the audience. Some came at really unexpected moments. I thought this took a lot of imagination and skill, because most horror movies you know exactly when it's coming. And he mixed it up a lot by doing jump scares and then just really creepy subtle things that still sent shivers up your spine, such as Lorraine's daughter finding the nun in the hallway.

* It was very well paced. A lot of horror movies spend far too much time setting up the premise, and they all go through the same formula. It gets so boring after a while. It's just a repeat of every other horror movie. But this one kicked into gear very quickly and once it did it never loosened its relentless grip. It was always interesting, and when the scary parts weren't happening, it was the suspense.

* The acting. Especially from the main girl, but also from Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Their acting was a big reason why this movie succeeded in scaring us, because without good acting everything just fails. You could feel their anxiety.

* And just the general direction of the whole movie. He created a unique atmosphere which isn't easy to achieve. It was really stylish and definitely veered from the typical supernatural horror where they spent too much time TRYING to scare people and focused more on the jump scares rather than the characters.

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[deleted]

Like I said, some parts were a little cliche, but other parts genuinely scared me and creeped me out because they went against what I was expecting. For example I liked the whole scene where Lorraine's daughter found the creepy nun in the hallway and then she followed it into the room. You knew the demon was there about to do something but the eerie quietness didn't let you know when or where it would happen. And when it did I honestly couldn't have predicted it. And the scene where the demon took control of the girl and suspended her from the ceiling while it made her watch what it was doing, and then put her in the locked room where it proceeded to turn the crosses upside down so they didn't work on it. I never saw that coming. And the whole tent with the crooked man was freaky. I could give more examples but I don't think you would want to read a big essay. All I can say is I was genuinely impressed with this movie, and this coming from someone who isn't even a big supernatural horror movie fan. I only see the ones that look interesting or I heard great things about, and I consider myself a harsh judge when it comes to movies. It's not a masterpiece, but it was good fun and entertainment in many ways other than just jump scares.

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Like I said, some parts were a little cliche, but other parts genuinely scared me and creeped me out because they went against what I was expecting. For example I liked the whole scene where Lorraine's daughter found the creepy nun in the hallway and then she followed it into the room. You knew the demon was there about to do something but the eerie quietness didn't let you know when or where it would happen. And when it did I honestly couldn't have predicted it. And the scene where the demon took control of the girl and suspended her from the ceiling while it made her watch what it was doing, and then put her in the locked room where it proceeded to turn the crosses upside down so they didn't work on it. I never saw that coming. And the whole tent with the crooked man was freaky. I could give more examples but I don't think you would want to read a big essay. All I can say is I was genuinely impressed with this movie, and this coming from someone who isn't even a big supernatural horror movie fan. I only see the ones that look interesting or I heard great things about, and I consider myself a harsh judge when it comes to movies. It's not a masterpiece, but it was good fun and entertainment in many ways other than just jump scares.



That scene with Lorraines daughter was as cliche as you could get. Standing there still and silent until she SLOWLY raises her hand to point at what we all know is going to be the nun. Making the kid raise her hand slowly doesn't build tension, it just pi$$es me off. How many times have we seen the same thing done over and over in other horror movies? Also, Lorraine stabs/violently writes in the book she has with a pen and doesn't look at it after she wakes up? But suddenly thinks to remember it later on to remember what the demons name is? It's just so lame and pathetic.






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If you think the scares in this movie were unpredictable and creative then you must be 15 years old or have never seen a horror movie pre 2010, because the 'scares' were as predictable and cliche as you could get. How many times did we see a demon face suddenly pop up out of the dark and scream at the character?

This literally happened about 6 times, and these embarrassing juvenile boo scares demonstrate the creative ability of James Wan. He has none. Zero. Any quality horror director would be too embaressed to have just one of those lame 'scares' yet his movie was full of them.

Unpredictable? You really had no idea something scary would be in the childs tent when he slowly walked upto it with the music and bass slowly building as he opened it? Are people really that clueless these days?

Can you detail the exact creative scares you saw because I saw none.


As for the Wan and the rest of this movie I have to perfectly agree with the OP, as I often feel I am one few people on the planet who sees through wans crappy movies for what they really are. He is a shameless hack who just copy and pastes from every previous horror movie and does so in the most generic way possible, unable to even offer a semblance of flair or creativity to the tired old ideas hes ripping off, and it seems he doesnt even care to try because the sheep keep lapping his rubbish up.

Does anyone not even notice he makes the same movie over and over again? Insidious 1/2, Conjuring 1/2, all haunted house, possession 'horror' movies. All of them are incredibly generic and cheesy and completely un threatening. Does anyone even get hurt in a Wan Horror movie?

What wa so scary about the demon in Conjuring 2? Nobody was really threatened apart from a bit of levitation and a few bites. When the demon did it appear it just screamed for a second and vanished, without harming any of the characters. Where is the 'horror' in that? Nothing intimidating at all, this was PG rated main stream cookie cutter trash for the brainless masses who clearly have no idea what a good horror movie is anymore.

This movie was laughably cliche, and lame it just amazes me reading all the reviews its like everyone is suffering some mass psychosis or something. The scene where the girl became possessed in front of the tv cameras looked like a parody of The Excorcist , I waa literally laughing out load how lame and cheesey it was, and how the movie was playing it so seriously as if it was presenting the audience with a truely horrific moment, its just laughable that Wan actually sat down, watched that scene and thought it was good and actually put it in his movie, but I guess it shows just how clueless and juvenille this hack is.

Wan is a disgrace and it infuritates me that he and his crappy movies have so much success because he is doing a great diservice to the genre with his drivel.



The tent scene smacked of The 6th Sense which is also a rip off of Jacobs Ladder. I'm sick to death of horror directors thinking children's toys are scary. When you think of the clown scene in Poltergeist, its hilarious, as parodied in Scary Movie as well haha. That spinning toy with the Crooked Man was just a lame set up for when it hilariously appears later on, ripping off The Babadook, another film which hugely disappointed me.

And would any normal kid that age even have the balls to go check out the tent after the toy car is pushed towards him? I sure as hell wouldn't if I was his age. My son is 8 and would $hit himself and call out for me in panic.

I too was pi$$ing myself when she was interviewed by the media, it sounded like she had bad indigestion.

And the guy playing Maurice Grosse...hahahahaahahahhahahahaha.





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Here's why I thought it was a really good movie.

* The tense atmosphere. I thought Wan did a great job of directing the actors and made it seem like he was really putting them in an uncomfortable and eerie atmosphere which made the scary parts really genuine. Bad acting can literally make any attempts to scare the audience totally worthless. Wan is responsible for this and why I thought the scary parts were so scary

* The unpredictability and creativity of the scary scenes. Apart from a few parts (doors slamming shut - the horror movie's best friend.. and loud banging), I thought there was a lot of creativity on how he managed to scare the audience. Some came at really unexpected moments. I thought this took a lot of imagination and skill, because most horror movies you know exactly when it's coming. And he mixed it up a lot by doing jump scares and then just really creepy subtle things that still sent shivers up your spine, such as Lorraine's daughter finding the nun in the hallway.

* It was very well paced. A lot of horror movies spend far too much time setting up the premise, and they all go through the same formula. It gets so boring after a while. It's just a repeat of every other horror movie. But this one kicked into gear very quickly and once it did it never loosened its relentless grip. It was always interesting, and when the scary parts weren't happening, it was the suspense.

* The acting. Especially from the main girl, but also from Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Their acting was a big reason why this movie succeeded in scaring us, because without good acting everything just fails. You could feel their anxiety.

* And just the general direction of the whole movie. He created a unique atmosphere which isn't easy to achieve. It was really stylish and definitely veered from the typical supernatural horror where they spent too much time TRYING to scare people and focused more on the jump scares rather than the characters.



I appreciate what you are saying, but obviously I'm going to disagree on many of the points you made.

The nun could have been pretty cool if it wasn't for the silly fingers slowly gripping the painting and running forward with the picture infront of it at Lorraine Warren. I knew this was likely to happen because its so bloody predictable. James Wan's scares all involve in your face bangs screams yells and zero subtlety. I personally don't find a close up of a demon pulling an angry face and yelling/screaming scary in the slightest.

There was so much potential for this film, and James Wan wasted it all on cheap parlour tricks.


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