YMMV / The Conjuring 2

• Adaptation Displacement: This isn't the first film to adapt the supposed events of the Enfield Poltergeist into horror - an early 90s BBC mockumentary called Ghostwatch got there first. It was excellently put together and kind of scary and high-production for a 90s BBC film. It is remembered with terrified admiration by those that saw it at the time, but due to incurring controversy and the tricks it used really only working for a single broadcast, it has never been repeated and is so fairly obscure even for British viewers. Americans are unlikely to have heard of it at all (or indeed the 'real' case) until the Conjuring 2 came out.
• Catharsis Factor: After all the horrible things that Valak does, seeing him show genuine fear when he learns Lorraine knows his true name, and thus can banish him back to Hell.
• Complete Monster: Valak is a demonic entity who sticks out to the Warrens as one of the most wicked beings they have ever encountered. Having slaughtered multiple nuns in the St. Carta abbey in its origin film and subsequently trying to bury a priest alive, Valak mentally assaulted Lorraine Warren out of revenge for being exorcised from Maurice, and continued to haunt her for months afterward. Beginning to haunt the Hodgson family for its own amusement, Valak took control of the spirit of an innocent man, refusing to let him move on into the afterlife, and forces him to terrorize the Hodgsons. After trying numerous times to kill various members of the Hodgson family, Valak tries to force the youngest girl, Janet, to impale herself in front of her entire family, then tries to force Lorraine to watch as it attempts the same on her husband.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Valak messing with the TV to scare Janet is a quite disturbing scene, but it reaches a special level of pettiness when the demon stops zapping on Margaret Thatcher delivering a speech.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The Crooked Man only appears briefly, but his excellent character design and terrifying appearance (courtesy of horror movie veteran Javier Botet) was enough for him to become a fan favorite.
• Even Better Sequel: While the first was a hit and one of the most acclaimed horror films of 2013, this movie, according to some, managed to top it with a more emotionally gripping story, better scares, and a terrific villain in the form of Valak.
• Narm: Valak's Crooked Man form has a startling, truly terrifying entrance...but his bright, colorful, Tim Burton-esque character design could be difficult to take seriously. The Narm truly comes in, however, when he starts speaking and saying his rhyme in a hammy delivery, as though the viewers wouldn't be able to figure out on their own what he was supposed to be derived from. Also, his weapon is an umbrella.
• One-Scene Wonder: The Crooked Man, as stated above under Ensemble Dark Horse, although he is technically a two-scene wonder.
• She Really Can Act: Some audiences express surprise upon learning Madison Wolffe is an American, since she can speak with amazingly convincing British accent as Janet.
• Ugly Cute: A number of people have found the Crooked Man, of all things to be weirdly adorable at times, comparing his character design to a character from one of Tim Burton's stop-motion movies. It helps that the eyeholes◊ cut in the crest of his hat make him look like he has Black Bead Eyes.
• The Woobie: Lorraine. Isolated and rejected due to her psychic abilities before meeting Ed, tries using said abilities for good and ends up being mentally assaulted by a demon who threatens her with and nearly succeeds in violently taking her husband away from her. Luckily grows into an Iron Woobie by the story's end.
  Lorraine: This is as close to Hell as I ever want to get.
  • The same can be said about Janet. Upon watching the scene with Lorraine and Janet on the swing set it's impossible not to feel sorry for the poor girl, even more so after the scene where she's nearly strangled to death by the curtains. A deleted scene makes this even worse after becoming a Hero with Bad Publicity following her family's haunting and Bill Wilkins comunicating through her being publicized, as her so-called friend Camilla (the one who gave her the spirit board in the first place) turns against her, throwing red paint on her and spitefully calling her a witch, leading to a crowd of students chanting witch, which caused plus the teacher from earlier in the film to angrily have her suspended until her presence is less disruptive. The utterly broken face she has as she walks away following facing hatred from her classmates and teacher and being outcasted 'til further notice really makes your heart bleed for her. One has to think that the reason this scene was cut was that it was hard to watch for others and seeing the family being haunted in the final cut is bad enough.
  • Bill Wilkins after the truth of what's happening is revealed. He never wanted to harm anyone, he merely wanted to see his family and when he saw they weren't there anymore, he wanted to leave the Hodgson family alone. Unfortunately, Valak had different plans and forced him to do far far worse.

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