Wan is still effective in creating memorable and horrific imagery that lingers in the mind, as well as moments of levity in-between that are surprisingly genuine and sweet.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 25, 2018

It is a basic thing done very well, in many ways a pristine example of what Wan always shows up to do. He's going to keep you anxious  --  nothing can feel totally stable when a camera never ceases to move.

| Aug 10, 2017

What folks aren't really talking about is how romantic the film is.

| Original Score: B+ | Mar 21, 2017

Even when you're squirming in your seat from the sheer length of the film, you'll definitely find yourself jumping out of it a lot too.

| Feb 24, 2017

What's entertaining here is that they leave the usual Amityville surroundings for a damp and mouldy council semi in Enfield, London, in 1977, where the Hodgson family is being plagued by a poltergeist.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2016

Wan knows what he is doing, and more often than not this sequel offers up enough in the way of thrills and chills to satisfy.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 9, 2016

It somehow manages to be scarier, more thoughtful, and more intellectually honest than its predecessor.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 8, 2016

Wan's expert deployment of genre jolts is no less in evidence this time around, but as he takes his time - perhaps even a bit too much of it - interweaving the Warrens' story with that of the Hodgsons... he crafts a deep dive into dread.

| Jun 20, 2016

[Wan's] framing of the scares is artfully managed, and it is the accomplished Wolfe, rather than any monster, who takes true possession of the tale.

| Jun 20, 2016

Great. So now, along with being spooked by claps, dolls and nuns, I'm tisantaphobic too. Thanks for everything, James Wan.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 19, 2016

Wan's sinuous camera leaves us constantly off balance, the frame bent and tilted. The design team go all out with a colour palette of mould and despair.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 19, 2016

James Wan is a modern master at making horror movies with the momentum of fairground ghost train rides.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 17, 2016

The Conjuring 2 has a few slow moments and should be a bit shorter than two hours, but it's a technically dazzling, emotionally acted, scary film. Were I still a young teen I'd be having a few sleepless nights now.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 17, 2016

You'll jump a few times in this film - it's impossible not to, given the deafening digital stabs of sound - but this just rehashes a clutch of cliches, including a borrowing from The Babadook.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 16, 2016

Wan's film runs for an absurdly overextended two and a quarter hours, and an entire hour and five minutes have passed before the Warrens actually set foot on English soil.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 16, 2016

This new 'Conjuring' sequel has all sorts of problems, but there's never a moment's doubt that you're in the hands of a professional.

| Jun 14, 2016

In short, The Conjuring 2 is a lot better than any of us had cause to expect. Do carry on

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 14, 2016

You always get the sense that the Hodgsons are being targeted by something that is truly out of their control, and that's the biggest scare of all.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 10, 2016

There are only so many times a slamming door will get an audience to jump.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 10, 2016

Though The Conjuring 2 lacks some of what made its predecessor a genuinely excellent, critically-acclaimed horror film, it's still compelling.

| Jun 10, 2016