'The Conjuring 2' always had a lot to live up to after the original film in 2013; how was James Wan going to scare his audience with his next Ed and Lorraine Warren case? As it turns out, the new movie has much less of that slow-burning dread about it and a lot more cheap 'BOO!' moments. But that doesn't mean the critics didn't love it.

The Conjuring 2'The Conjuring 2' isn't as much of a slow-burner as its predecessor

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return in this fictional re-telling of The Enfield Poltergiest; a true story of a family in London back in the 70s who were terrorized by a number of malevolent spirits, all centering around one of the daughters, Janet. It's a very meticulously recorded case, so there was a lot of source material to take from - but the 133 minutes of movie that came out of it was always going to be controversial.

Rolling Stone admitted that it 'overstays its welcome', and the length didn't do it any favours in the eyes of one critic at Detroit Free Press. ''The Conjuring 2' can't hold a candle to its predecessor', they said, criticising the 'shock jumps and cheesy-looking demons' as 'repetitive and obvious'. It was a bit of an eye-roller for Indiewire too, who called it 'a smart movie driven by dumb scares' and slammed it for being 'riddled with overindulgence'.

Watch the trailer for 'The Conjuring 2'



If you can look past the lengthiness and obvious scare methods though, you'll find 'an engrossing and chilling sequel worthy of continuing the series' according to Collider. Plus, if anyone was going to make a horror movie full of those so-depised shock moments, Empire thinks Wan is the right director for it: 'Very few modern horror filmmakers can time a jump scare as effectively as Wan', they claim.

Despite acknowledging it's length, Rolling Stone were otherwise gushing about what the film had to offer, particularly Wan's direction. 'His artistry with pace, framing, and tension-filled atmosphere makes the house come alive in every undead detail', they offered, while Empire praised the relationship between the Warrens as 'the movie's emotional anchor' proving that a horror flick can be 'sweet, surprising, and even charming'.

'The Conjuring 2' is released in US theaters on Friday (June 10th 2016).