"Fear is caused by the unknown or a strong sense of crisis..." This is in "The Conjuring" released in 2013, paranormal researcher and exorcist couple Ed and Rowling, in their host A sentence mentioned in the lecture on the exorcism ritual. This summer, the horror film "The Conjuring 2" directed by the film's director Wen Ziren, and "Lights Out" (Lights Out) supervised by him were released in Hong Kong successively, bringing a touch of this hot summer. "Cool". The two newly released horror films also well implemented the profound meaning of fear mentioned by director Wen Ziren in the first film through the mouth of the protagonist, allowing the audience to feel the chills down their spines in the "expectation" of the unknown and crisis. a feeling of.
As early as 2013, the first "The Conjuring" was a dark horse and won a good box office at a lower cost. Then Wen Ziren filmed "Fast and Furious 7" and supervised the production of "Annabelle", a derivative work of "The Conjuring". Although critics gave "Annabelle" mixed reviews, its outstanding box office performance also ignited expectations for the sequel "Annabelle 2" and the main "The Conjuring 2". From "The Chainsaw" (SAW, 2004), to "Insidious" (2010), and then to "The Conjuring", Wen Ziren successfully found his own horror genre film paradigm, his skillful use of film language, Pulls the audience into a maelstrom of frightening horror time and time again.
Wen Ziren once said frankly that due to the success of the previous work, he was actually "Alexander" when filming "The Conjuring 2", except that because many "scare stalks" appeared again, it would be an old-fashioned plot, which may break the work and even make people laugh. , and because the audience more or less "previewed" the story of the Warrens, many episodes can be guessed and predicted. Therefore, "The Conjuring 2" tests the director's skills even more. In addition to retaining the familiar dark and cold tones, the subjective shots of handheld shooting, and the soundtrack that changes from slow to abrupt when the crisis comes, there are long shots that appear many times, front and back shots that switch quickly, and various close-ups of potential threats. The lens has become the highlight of "The Conjuring 2". Although there are no clapping hands that suddenly appeared behind, and various doors that open automatically from time to time, Wen Ziren's grasp of the rhythm is just right, and he skillfully cooperates with switching various shots, which makes the whole film relaxed and relaxed, making this film still present. Higher startle index.
[Step by step fear slowly infiltrates]
The Conjuring 2 moves the story to London in the 1970s. The beginning of the film follows the end of the previous episode, and the Warrens are invited to Long Island to find out the truth about the murder of a family of six. Wife Rowling encountered the evil spirit in the face of a nun during the channeling, and saw the picture of her husband Eddie dying in vain. Afterwards, the camera cuts to London, and layers upon layers of the story of the single mother Peggy and her four children "go to hell". For nearly an hour, the audience followed Peggy's family and witnessed the entire process of their youngest daughter Janet being possessed by a ghost.
When showing the Peggy family, a long shot from the second-floor window quickly goes through the main scenes, characters and associations of the home: Billy and the music box, Johnny and the tent and the ambulance, the sensible eldest sister Margo Rita, and finally Janet, the youngest daughter who attracts ghosts. As the plot unfolds slowly, the living room, basement and other scenes are gradually presented in front of the audience, from parts, to the whole, to part close-ups, step by step, allowing the audience to gradually become familiar with and bring them into this "haunted house" and become one of them. a member. At the beginning of Janet's possession, the episode where the old ghost Bill and her grab the TV remote control is both hilarious and chilling. The twisted ghost that the little boy Billy saw was the incarnation of the hunchback on his music box. This was the fear in his heart, and it was believed that it was also the incarnation of the childhood shadows of many children. The more lifelike "realism" and traceability is what makes "The Conjuring 2" even more terrifying than its predecessor.
[Construction and deconstruction "The real murderer has other ghosts"]
When the Warrens first interacted with the old ghost Bill possessed by Janet, the camera focused on Ed, the questioner, past Ed who was facing the camera, and Janet on the sofa gradually turned into the old man in defocus. The image, specious, becomes more figurative as the camera progresses, and then quickly "changes back" to Janet. This five-minute long shot is impressive. One scene has two more foreshadowings: one is that no one really "sees" the old ghost Bill, whether he is really everyone's imagination based on Janet's hoarse voice (this suspicion later led to a group of exorcists. The teacher questioned Janet for the show and left her house); secondly, the Warrens finally found that "the real murderer has other ghosts" based on Bill's "farewell speech" and another recording.
Having said that, smart readers may realize that "The Conjuring 2" also hides a trick, that is, in terms of narrative and camera performance, it constantly constructs and then deconstructs "god", making full use of the audience's inconvenience. A sense of certainty magnifies the unknown on top of the known. The audience has clearly seen the fact that it is haunted, but these facts can always be questioned, especially when the people in the play face the "habitual liar" Janet, they always question her cheating. Until the Warrens came into contact with the old ghost Bill and realized that Bill was forced to do scary things, "the real murderer has other ghosts". At this point, the uncertainty that has been pressing on the hearts of the audience has finally dissipated. And this is also the genius of the director. On the basis of the real records of the Warrens, the adapted story inserts a demon, so that the film is in the foreseeable ghost incident and true and false suspicion and suspense. to frighten.
At the end of the film, the real evil spirit lost to the true love of the Warren couple, as well as the trust of Ed and Janet, was instantly wiped out. Frankly speaking, at the end, the film suddenly changed from a horror thriller to a touching and warm film, which is a little abrupt. Although the story has more human touches, the connotations and connotations discussed are also a bit deeper, such as fatherly love, such as trust and sympathy between people, waiting, but it is because of these human touches that it is different from the previous episode of "Frightening to the End." "Compared to slightly inferior, it is no wonder that many people think that the second part is not as scary as the first.
But at the end of the day, "The Conjuring 2" is still a masterpiece when it's hard to find "good horror movies" on the big screen. However, if you compare another similar horror film "Don't Turn Off the Lights" produced by Wen Ziren with "The Conjuring 2", it is also taking advantage of the audience's fear of the unknown and crisis. The former is more frightening than the latter. It’s more resonant and even scarier (eg, models with partial limbs, darkness when the lights are turned off, etc.). However, from the perspective of the completeness of the story and the arrangement of the scene scheduling, "The Conjuring 2" is still slightly better. After all, it is not a horror film that is "scared for the sake of fright". No one died in the whole process, but it can still be evoked. The audience's fear of uncertainty.
The Conjuring 2 was a successful sequel. In view of this, "Annabelle 2", which will be released next summer, is also full of expectations. As for the rumored "Nun" derived from "The Conjuring 2", it has been put on the shooting schedule and the script is being adapted. As for "The Conjuring 3", Wen Ziren also revealed more or less that there is a third filming plan, but it is unknown whether he will still direct it. In any case, with the general lack of excellent horror films in recent years, Wen Ziren has already consolidated his status as a horror master in the hearts of fans with the "Walking Heart" series of "The Conjuring".
( an old article published in the 10th issue of "Popular Film" in 2016 )
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