By SHAH SHAMSHIRI
Avid followers of The Conjuring universe must have been looking forward to this much-awaited sequel since the first instalment was released in 2018.
In the first Nun film, viewers would have been able to guess that the tale would continue after a scene depicting the demon nun Valak possessing the body of Maurice Theriault or ‘Frenchie’ through a serpent which entered his body after saving Sister Irene at the church of Saint Carta in Romania.
Well, as expected in this continuation, Valak uses Frenchie as its human vessel to obtain a holy relic for purposes of unearthly powers.
In this quest to obtain the holy relic, several prominent religious figures from different churches in Europe perish in the evil hands of the demon nun.
This disturbing news reaches the Vatican, which later instructs Sister Irene to hunt the demon nun since she was the only one alongside Father Burke who was successful in vanquishing the evil before.
Reluctantly Sister Irene obliges and follows her visions which leads her to the feared evil.
In true Conjuring style, the movie has all the necessary ingredients to ‘conjure’ a horror movie that is bound to keep viewers in constant suspense.
Though appearances of spectres and demonic ghouls are key elements to most horror flicks, this writer feels that it is the clever play of sound and music scoring that actually elevates this film’s spook level.
Certain moments of the film distinctly witnessed an augmented amount of eerie music and sounds making the screenplay more hair-raising and creepy.
This also indirectly gives away some bits of suspense as viewers can guess when a supernatural spectre is about to appear according to the soundtrack featured in every scene.
That factor however, does not eliminate some ‘jump scare’ scenes which are always needed in most horror flicks.
Honestly shutting your ears during the scary scenes is more helpful than shutting your eyes when watching movies of The Conjuring franchise.
That said, this is still a horror movie that is worth watching if you are a fan of supernatural suspense and ghostly surprises.
The Nun 2 is currently haunting all Malaysian cinemas starting September 7, 2023.