The Conjuring universe has turned out some solid scares in the last ten years. While it's a solid improvement on the last film, THE NUN II fails to deliver any true terror.
It does provide plenty of jump scares and creepy moments, especially in its second half, even as the story rambles between clever & predictable.
Taissa Farmiga is back as Sister Irene, the young nun who found herself battling Valak, the demon nun who LOVES to pop out of the shadows.
Murders have started to occur in the Catholic church, the first during the smart opening sequence set in 1956 France.
The church calls Sister Irene in to investigate. Once that investigation turns into a novitiate version of "The Da Vinci Code" with Irene and her partner in the quest, Sister Debra (Storm Reid from "The Last of Us") chasing all over Europe in search of a gross relic, the film picks up the pace.
Jonas Blouquet returns as Maurice, the caretaker at a children's school set in an old winery and even older church. This is not a place you want to hang out in at night.
Mean girls abound, picking on young Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), the daughter of one of the teachers, Kate (Anna Popplewell, whose come a long way from her young role as Susan in "The Chronicles of Narnia").
There's nothing like an ancient church/winery for creepy attics, back rooms and cellars. Valak, the Nun Demon is as scary as ever, well played once again by Bonnie Aarons. The sequel was filmed at an actual abandoned church in France and its beautifully shot by Tristan Nyby.
There were times throughout that I felt like the filmmakers were going for an "Omen" vibe with the creativity of some of the violent deaths. The Nun's attack on Sister Irene at an isolated newsstand is really well staged and the school master's encounter with her long dead son in the chapel is a high point in scares.
But things do get a bit repetitive when all the horror is generated by jump scares versus the slowly building dread that the first two Conjuring films got so right.
The cast is very good, especially Farmiga and Blouquet.
THE NUN II is a decent sequel and entry in The Conjuring Universe, delivering just what you expect, but rarely anything more.
I'll give it a B-, which is a higher grade by a razor's edge that the C+ earned by The Nun's first standalone entry.
Speaking or razors, those are some impressive choppers, Sister!
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