By Staci Layne Wilson
@StaciWilson

THE CONJURING 2 Review – Things are going bump in the night again as director James Wan returns to his horror roots after a detour into the world of car crashes and killer abs in Furious 7. In 2013, Wan re-introduced real-life husband-and-wife demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren to the world with The Conjuring – the pair first rose to fame in the 1970s with their exorcism of a certain house in Amityville – and now they’re back for more.

Are you ready for more? I sure hope so, because that’s what you’ll be getting in this bigger, better, faster and yes – more furious – sequel. Reprising their roles as Ed and Lorraine, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga take on one of their most notorious cases of all: The Enfield Haunting in London. The pugnacious poltergeist, in one of the most documented paranormal cases in history, centered its scorn on a 10-year-old girl named Janet (Madison Wolfe). But the whole family was terrorized, and so mom Peggy (Frances O’Connor) calls in the big guns from America to eradicate the evil entity.

There are a few moments when you might say to yourself, “Why the hell doesn’t the family just leave?” – this ghost is really, really dangerous and relentless! – but if you can suspend disbelief and dive into the horror I can guarantee plenty of white-knuckle scares. On top of that, the characters all get their due; they’re not just cannon fodder, which is rare in the horror genre.

The classic haunted house storyline plays on all of our primal fears – and Wan knows how to tickle our fear bones — making The Conjuring 2 a must-see for anyone looking for thrills and chills on the big screen this summer.

Rated R

2 Hours, 14 Minutes

Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

THE CONJURING 2 Review: Perfect Summer Scare

by Staci Layne Wilson