Of all of the genres in film, horror might be the single most divisive: some people, like Rob’s mother-in-law Liz, are obsessed with it, and others, like Rob’s parents, won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole and have probably never seen a scary movie in their lives.
Studios, on the other hand, have long had a soft spot for horror films because they’re usually relatively cheap to make compared to a war epic or a superhero franchise, and a profitable first entry all but guarantees a slew of sequels and reboots, some decidedly better than others. From Freddy Krueger to Jason Voorhees to Michael Myers to Jigsaw to the shark from “Jaws” (and the sharks from “Sharknado”), the iconic characters of the genre have been in our lives for decades now.
Two of the biggest surprise hits of the last decade, 2013’s “The Conjuring” and 2018’s “A Quiet Place,” have spawned sequels and spinoffs of their own, and each grossed over $300 million at the box office on budgets of around $20 million. The second “Conjuring” movie from 2016 was equally successful, and the franchise has already generated five spinoffs– three “Annabelle” films, “The Nun” and “The Curse of La Llorona.” Audiences just can’t get enough of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) exorcising demons and cracking cases, and the latest film, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” revisits a case of alleged demonic possession in 1981 Connecticut.
“A Quiet Place Part II” appears to be headed on a similar path: the post-apocalyptic horror about monsters who use sound to kill has been crowned the movie that’s saving theaters in the post-pandemic era, and director/star John Krasinski, best known as Jim from “The Office,” will probably have a blank check to do anything he wants going forward. A third film is already in development with Jeff Nichols, so it’s a safe bet we’ll see plenty more from this universe.
Well, now that we’ve got the basic information out of the way, are these films any good? We utilized a slightly different format this week, with Bridget reviewing “A Quiet Place Part II” and Rob covering “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” so it won’t be conversational as in weeks past. But this way, we can cover more ground and avoid stretching ourselves too thin. Without further ado, let’s get down to business.
(“A Quiet Place Part II” is currently available in theaters only and will soon be streaming on Paramount Plus. “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” has been released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max for one month.)
A Quiet Place Part II
Bridget’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I have loved John Krasinski since his TV days as the lovable, floppy-haired Jim from “The Office.” He quickly made the jump to film acting. On the big screen, he has actually been working behind the camera as a writer, producer and even director since 2009, but it’s safe to say that “A Quiet Place” was his first big hit as a director. He also shared screenwriting credit for the film.
Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place Part II,” which he penned himself, was one of the first victims of the COVID push-back. Though it technically premiered before the pandemic, it just got its wide theatrical release a few weeks ago. I was excited to see it after really enjoying the first movie, despite not traditionally being a horror movie fan. And I must say, it did not disappoint!
Part II picks up literally minutes after the action of the first movie. The Abbott family must venture off their secluded farm after tragedy has struck. They eventually encounter an old acquaintance who tells them, “The people who are left, they’re not the kind of people worth saving.” That proves an ominous warning as they deal with the sound-triggered monsters, in addition to those bad folks, even as they work on a plan to help other survivors.
The film started with what might seem like an obligatory flashback of how the world went to hell. But this works like it’s supposed to. It gives us a brief glimpse of the origins of the monsters without spending too much time explaining things we don’t really need to know to enjoy the story. Unlike the original, this film soon splits into parallel narratives as the family separates for different missions. One plot line is much more critical than the other, but they are both well-done. Both pieces of the story had me sitting on the edge of my seat.
Like the first movie, the performances are excellent. Krasinski makes only a brief appearance at the beginning, but the rest of the family is acted to perfection by Emily Blunt who plays matriarch Evelyn Abbott and the kids played by Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe. Despite those young actors having visibly aged between films, I did not find that distracting at all, and those two actually owned the movie, especially Simmonds’ deaf character Regan. The sequel also added Irish actor Cillian Murphy, recognizable as Scarecrow from “The Dark Knight” trilogy or as the lead of the BBC series “Peaky Blinders”. Murphy was a strong addition to the movie, especially without much of Krasinski’s strong presence on screen. His grizzled, jaded portrayal of Emmett adds a dark, realistic element to the film.
I’ll admit that the sequel wasn’t quite as exceptional as the first movie. And at times, as the characters worked to find refuge and fix the world, it starts to feel quite a bit like other post-apocalyptic fare you’ve maybe seen such as “The Walking Dead,” “Bird Box” or “World War Z.” But I would still highly recommend this film. It kept me enthralled, even if a few parts were predictable. Overall, I think it’s a good sign when you’re trying not to make a peep in your theater seat because the monsters might hear you and attack!
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Rob’s rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Self-proclaimed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren paraded around the world and inserted themselves into countless alleged cases of possession and paranormal happenings, and Hollywood and the publishing industry have rewarded them handsomely for their troubles. But the latest dramatization of their adventures, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” takes them way more seriously than they deserve and reminds us, seemingly unintentionally, of the real life dangers of accepting their pseudoscientific findings as gospel.
“The Devil Made Me Do It” begins and ends with separate exorcisms, which, no matter how many times you see them, are made for the movies. People are screaming, glass is shattering, bodies are contorting and a priest is looking on in abject horror as a demon leaves the body of eight-year-old David Glatzel at his home in Connecticut circa 1981. The only problem is that it finds a new home inside of his sister’s boyfriend Arne Johnson, played by Irish actor Ruairi O’Connor, and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) has a heart attack during the exorcism.
Before long, Arne attacks his landlord, Bruno Sauls (Ronnie Gene Blevins), for the crime of playing Blondie’s “Call Me” too loud and making a drunken pass at his girlfriend Debbie inside of the apartment they’re renting, and stabs him 22 times. The first murder case in the history of Brookfield, Connecticut, becomes a media sensation when the Warrens convince Arne’s defense lawyer to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of demonic possession.
Over the next hour or so, his trial takes a backseat as the Warrens discover a witch’s totem, meet with an ex-priest who investigated a Satanic cult his daughter joined, and examine a Massachusetts murder with more than a passing resemblance (Lorraine Warren, played by Vera Farmiga, magically solves it through a vision) before confronting their own demons and fighting a cosmic battle against the forces of the underworld in the form of a mysterious woman who follows them around wherever they go.
Wilson and Farmiga (who may possess the most intense stare in the history of film) are good-to-great actors, and they make for a strangely wholesome cinematic couple even when they’re trying not to kill each other. They’ve always been the “Conjuring” universe’s greatest asset and probably garner far more sympathy than their real-life counterparts– they’ve been widely labeled as frauds, kooks and everything else in-between– would have had they played themselves on screen.
The first two “Conjuring” films, which focused on relatively harmless haunted house cases, were questionable as history and nonetheless great as entertainment, but the latest entry is overstuffed, underdeveloped and laughably melodramatic as it tries to tell too many stories at once and drags along to its inevitable climax. It’s documented fact (sorry for the spoiler) that Johnson ended up serving just five years for manslaughter and wound up marrying Debbie, and the film clearly takes the position that that’s a positive outcome. Sorry to be a downer, but when we consider the damage of the so-called “Satanic Panic” that people like the Warrens helped to foment and the false accusations and convictions it led to, is that really something we should be celebrating?
