Vincenzo de Divitiis
•England, 1977. Paggy Hodgon is a divorced woman and mother of four children with whom she lives in a council house on the outskirts of London, precisely in the district of Enfield, not without financial difficulties to make ends meet and feed her little ones every day. As if that were not enough, the situation worsens when strange events begin to occur in the house and the spirit of the former tenant possesses one of her daughters, Janet, to manifest his will not to leave his home. The case, which meanwhile has gained national attention earning the nickname "Amityville" English, reaches the ears of the Vatican which tasks the two paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren to investigate the veracity of the phenomena and find a solution if they are authentic. Thus begins a long struggle between good and evil that does not only involve the spirit that is inside the little Janet, but also a very powerful demon that torments Lorraine since the times of the last investigation of "Amityville" and who has predicted a tragic end for a person dear to her.
Director, screenwriter, producer: these are the many roles that James Wan plays within contemporary horror, a scene in which over the years he has imposed himself on the attention of the public and critics as one of the most talented and important contemporary masters. An ascent that began with the beautiful first chapter of the "Saw – The Puzzle" saga, slightly hindered by the discreet "Dead Silence," and finally brought to its peak by the two "Insidious" and, above all, "The Conjuring- The Summoning" dated 2013.
The latter, based on a case actually faced by the paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren, not only offered peaks of good horror cinema – something not taken for granted these days – but also gave rise to one of the most flourishing franchises of the moment, as demonstrated by the mediocre "Annabelle" inspired by the doll present in the basement of the two spouses. A similar success could not fail to lead to the realization of a sequel that, punctual as a Swiss watch, arrived with the direction of its father James Wan, who in the meantime had taken a break from the genre dedicating himself to the engines and muscles of "Fast & Furious." Never was a return so beneficial as this sequel is a really remarkable film and really scares you to the point of warning the most impressionable people of the danger of a sleepless night.
The points in favor of this "The Conjuring- The Enfield Case" are many, but let's start with the most immediate and easy to see with the naked eye.
Wan's handling of tension is as usual perfect thanks to the gloomy and dark atmospheres that do not make the danger perceptible thus creating a sense of disorientation that leaves the viewer in a continuous state of anxiety from the beginning to the end, accentuated by the always excellent music of the faithful Joseph Bishara characterized by acute sonorities and always in step with the different moments of the story. Numerous are, in fact, the memorable sequences that stand on one of the most unsettling figures of recent years, namely the statuesque demon dressed as a nun who torments Lorraine and rises as the protagonist of what is an important subplot of the film. The story, in fact, moves on two parallel tracks, the affair of the Hodgson family and the shock suffered by Lorraine during the last seance in the house of "Amytiville," which intertwine wonderfully with each other and at various points are complementary to each other.
But such an ambitious operation, of immense duration for a horror film (133 minutes), could not fail to have some cracks in the plot development that in the long run is not the maximum of originality and, above all, collapses miserably in a disappointing, rushed and superficial resolution of the possession and lacking the expected final climax. In short, the idea of immersing the public in a spiral of terror from the start turns out to be a boomerang as it is very difficult to maintain the same rhythm for so many sequences.
Despite these minor flaws, Wan's new work is promoted with high marks also thanks to a cast in which Vera Farming confirms that the character of Lorraine suits her perfectly and the revelation is represented by the young Madison Wolfe, very skillful in the role of a possessed child among the most frightening and credible of recent decades.
If you want to see a horror film of good quality and written also with the right care of details, "The Conjuring – The Enfield Case" is the film for you and warmly recommended. Wan has hit the mark once again!
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