Director James Wan returns to the horror genre with The Conjuring 2, a sequel to his 2013 movie about an allegedly true case of demonic possession. While the first trailer for the sequel was released earlier this year, a new trailer at WonderCon has just been released to reveal more about the plot surrounding the film as well as a few scares or two.
Since the last Conjuring movie, director James Wan has become a bigger name in Hollywood with his success with Furious 7 and his plans to continue with the blockbuster-movie route with his recently announced Aquaman movie, starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones). However, before Wan jumps back into the action genre, the director has made a sequel to The Conjuring, continuing to tell the story of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Released today at a WonderCon panel, the second trailer for The Conjuring 2 features more plot surrounding the infamous Enfield case. Here is the synopsis for the film from Warner Bros. Pictures:
"Director James Wan brings this supernatural thriller to the screen with another real case from the files of renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Reprising their roles, Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as Lorraine and Ed Warren, who, in one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits."
The horror genre is a familiar place for Wan, as in addition to The Conjuring, the director made his mark in the genre with directing Saw and Insidious. At the panel at WonderCon, the director discussed the difference between making bigger pictures like Furious 7 versus films with a tighter budget like Saw, as reported by Collider:
"Story and character are always the most important. That never changes. If you create good characters – you can put them in any movie big or small."
The director also reflected on his use of scares in a horror film and how he tries to prevent them from becoming predictable:
"A lot of people can be quite dismissive of scares in a horror film; but a good one is very hard to do right. One you haven’t even seen is even harder. I try to push myself to write something I haven’t seen before or think of things that scare me. And then I try to figure out a way to articulate that cinematically. I don’t think there’s a trick to it. But if I had to put my finger on it — I would say it’s coming up with something that is relevant to us. Something that is relevant to everyone alive."
While many would categorize Wan’s directing style as a more classical horror movie approach that relies on scares (Saw being the exception), the director creates a whole world for his characters to live in that seems believable to the audience. It’s a style that could strengthen a movie sequel like The Conjuring 2 by expanding an authentic world with familiar characters like Ed and Lorraine Warren. The trailer seems to show that, expanding the world while still providing many frightening scares reminiscent of the trailers for first The Conjuring movie.
The Conjuring 2 opens in U.S. theaters on June 10, 2016.
Source: Collider