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Why ‘The Conjuring 2’ Made Me Cry

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This month has been awful, and I mean awful. Two weeks ago I lost both of my jobs (in one day through, no fault of my own, and was given no explanation). Then, last week, as I was driving to an interview, I was basically run off the road, which left my car un-drivable. These things, coupled with the fact that I’m getting married in September, have really thrown me for a loop. In the 10+ years I’ve been working I’d never been fired before, and certainly not twice in one day. My ego is bruised, my stress levels are through the roof, and I  haven’t written anything in a while. It sucks.

After a long couple weeks of lying around my apartment and filling out numerous applications and assessments, I had to get out and be a part of the world again, even if I didn’t want to. A friend and I went to see James Wan’s highly anticipated sequel, The Conjuring 2, and while I was expecting to enjoy it, I was not expecting to find love, happiness, and solace in it.

Admittedly, there’s not much that James Wan has done in horror that I haven’t enjoyed to some extent but his work chronicling the cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren have been his best. They’re scary with just enough humor sprinkled throughout to temporarily alleviate the exquisite dread that is built in each film. In short, I loved it. While I didn’t think it was as scary as the first, I found it to be a deeply immersive film with incredible set design, direction, and performances.

This isn’t a review or even an op-ed, I guess. It’s more of a letter or musing on Wan’s (and the writers’) ability to take characters, both fictional and real, and make the audience care about them. Further, it’s also about how horror can really help you remember what you’re most thankful for.

Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated countless cases and whether you believe they were actually fighting off supernatural evil or not doesn’t matter. What does matter is how these two are portrayed. Twice in the film, a story is told by both characters who’re brilliantly performed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. They are speaking to a girl who is being tormented by demonic spirits and has lost all of her friends because of it; it’s a tale is about finding the one person who believed them out of all the naysayers they had encountered over the years. It ends like this (spoiler):

“…You know what I did next?”

“What?”

“I married him…”

…or her, depending on who’s telling the story. At that point, while I sat in a dark theater, I felt my throat tighten and my eyes beginning to well up. “Am I going to cry during The Conjuring 2?,” I thought. I fought the tears and soon the next supernatural episode came and I was back to normal. But later on, during a scene in which Ed sings Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (to bring a bit of happiness to a terrified family), I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Patrick Wilson looked at Vera Farmiga in such a comforting and loving way that it made me entirely lose it. I sat and let the tears silently stream down my face because James Wan, Patrick Wilson, and Vera Farmiga reminded me how lucky I am to have my fiance, especially during these times.

The Conjuring 2 isn’t just about scaring us or bringing back the feeling of the great ghost films of decades past; it’s about showing the audience that bad things happen to good people, but they can also be fought off by the good as well…and that having at least one person who can be there for you, even at your very worst, is one of the best things that life can offer.

Did going to the movies make all my problems go away? No. Did it get me a job or fix my car? No. But for two hours, at the end of a really terrible couple of weeks, it reminded me that I am loved and lucky to have someone who believes me. And you know what I’ll do next?

Jess is a Northeast Ohio native who has loved all things horror and fringe since birth. She has a tendency to run at the mouth about it and decided writing was the only way not to scare everyone away. If you make a hobby into a career it becomes less creepy. Unless that hobby is collecting baby dolls. Nothing makes that less creepy.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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