Given that The Nun (2018) was nothing more than a polished-looking series of loud noises and nonsensical happenings, I was not looking forward to the sequel.

And even though The Nun II has its share of cheap scares and a few unintentionally funny moments, I was shocked by how much better it is than the first film.

Flashes of greatness are seen here-more often than not it's directed with considerable skill and far more restraint than the first movie was. It's quieter and more patient at first, fleshing out its characters before things get insane in the third act.

As for these character dynamics, they're actually interesting this time around. The dialogue is sometimes cheesy, but there's a sincerity to the humans in this story that gives a gripping quality to the film's perilous moments.

There's certainly quite a bit of bad to be found here, but I actually liked more of this than I didn't. Hopefully these movies will get back to being good.

Knowing that Ed is present for the exorcism of frenchie and that's technically a pivotal moment in the relationship of Ed and Loraine (according to the films), and the look Irene gives Frenchy at the end of the film makes me certain we're due for a 3rd Nun film. I had a feeling this movie was going to be a bit stale. The design and appearance of the Nun creeping in dark shadowy halls in the film has lost its shock factor. And the increased exposure of the creature has decreased the menacing creepiness of the Nun. It always was more terrifying when all you were able to see was a silhouette of the Nun and the pale face. I give them credit as they've built a pretty solid story building to the exorcism of Frenchy. They've also found creative ways of adding these religious relics to the storyline as weapons against the demon. When they first released Annabelle people were really creeped out by the dolls lore. In 2023 it's looked at as a new age Chucky doll attached to a major film franchise. It feels like the Conjuring Universe is building to something huge. I have said for years it's building to a Amityville Film as a grand finale. But after this film and the inevitable third film, it's clear that the franchise might want to find a new horrific creature from the cases of the Warren's to add to the library of horror.

My dedication to the horror genre leads me to seeing a lot of films at the cinema that I fully expect to be rubbish. Like the Nun II, which I had very little real interest in watching since I couldn't remember much about the first one, other than the fact that I didn't like it. And for a long time, the film is just as bland and generic as I had imagined it would be, director Michael Chaves taking matters far too seriously, with a dreary pace, gloomy cinematography and all of the religious horror clichés he can cram in.

Then, just as I was about to give up all hope of being entertained, Chaves seems to remember that, hey, horror films can be fun! After the introduction of a demonic goat (Satan himself?), the film really picks up, with action, excitement, and a few well-crafted scares (I think I actually jumped a couple of times, but that was probably down to the extremely loud noises that accompany the jumpy bits). If only there had been some of this liveliness during the earlier parts of the film - The Nun II could have been really good instead of just okay.

My rating: 6/10.

Well, well, well,.... I really like the first Nun....so lets keep this in mind. It was original scary and new. Many times we struggle with sequels and this is no exception. All I remember is maybe Spiderman 2,,can you tell me of another ?Anyway, I wasn't expecting so much so I kinda wasn't that disappointed! It tries to expand the Nun universe but does it work? Is it needed? Ummm.....is it even scary? They tried but there's nothing new here. I dont think the cgi is better here,neither. Yes, we know more about the nun demon ,the actors are doing their best and the cinematography is beautiful but there's something missing here!

Another let-down in the 'Conjuring' universe. Who would've guessed? Apparently, just having creepy looking villainous characters isn't enough to make a strong horror movie. 'The Nun' is a very creepy looking character, there's no doubt about that. But these films do not seem to know how to use her properly.

The funny thing in these films to me, is when it's a minor character in danger - instant death. But when it is a major character in the movie - seemingly all 'The Nun' wants to do it jump out and scare you over and over again. It just makes no sense and really deflates all of the tension out of the movie.

If you're a fan of jump-scares then there's good news. You're likely going to have a good time with this one. The movie is riddled with them. Some are well done, others not so much. The problem with horror movies based entirely around jump-scares is that they are instantly forgettable. Maybe you remember one jump scare if it was especially well done, but you certainly never remember the film as a whole.

And I think that's the biggest problem here. There was nothing new, or unique about this film. Nothing that I will still be thinking about a week (or even 24 hours) from now. Just another forgettable experience and $22 down the drain. 4.5/10.

This is Chaves' third Conjuring universe film and likely his best. Much like its predecessor, The Nun II does a fantastic job with the brilliant atmosphere it establishes. It's also backed up with great performances from each member of the cast, and there's some very creative sequences and camera work throughout the movie. Also loved how they used the characters of Irene and Maurice with this one too, where they felt underdeveloped in the last film.

However, this film doesn't have enough of the freaking titular Nun. It also has too many slow buildup scenes that lead to multiple unnecessary jumpscares, some questionable moments, and a few parts of the story that aren't well established. I expected more from Akela Cooper on this front knowing her stellar writing on Malignant and M3GAN.

Overall it's still very solid. It's a massive improvement over The Nun (2018) and serves as a nice entry into the Conjuring universe, even though it doesn't quite live up to the standards that were established with the demon nun character in The Conjuring 2.

I think I need to shift my perspective on what The Nun movies are supposed to be. The Conjuring films are great, full of scares, great writing. Annabelle is also pretty freaky. The Nun... feels more like Indiana Jones or a Disneyworld ride. Made-for-amusement-park action, props, and themes. Each time I go in expecting to be freaked out by "the greatest evil in the Conjuring Universe" just to walk away feeling like I went through a haunted house at Six Flags. The Nun II was not scary, barely interesting, and quite honestly boring at times. Conjuring Universe I love you, but let's send the Nun back to hell for good.

In this nun outing, the scariest part of the story isn't about her... it's a goat.

But even though there were some run-of-the-mill parts, the second nun movie is actually good, if you like the first movie. Some great scenes should be experienced in 4d cinema. Although, bring the jacket, because the wind is blowing in most situations!

I liked that it got a little bit deeper in mythology. The scenery is great, as it was in the first movie - good directing. A lot of scary scenes, especially the one on the staircase. The things I didn't like - it's a little bit awkward with those annoying children and some dialogues seem forced.

Overall, it's definitely worth seeing. This year is not really a good horror year so far unfortunately, unlike the previous few. So, so far this is one of the highlights.

Sister Irene and The Nun is back in this most anticipated sequel from The Conjuring universe, and after watching this, you know what, just give up, stop making unnecessary sequels, or if you do, do something that really will put things on a different level. Taissa Farmiga as Sister Irene felt more important, she did more, less useless, something I felt from the previous Nun movie. But that doesn't mean that this made this movie better, because it didn't make it any better. Now I will tell you what was the few pros, and what made this movie to a disappointment. They had to stop The Nun, but they had to find out what it wanted and how they were going to stop it. They got clues, and the clues was a good thing in this movie. The clues were greatly detailed and unexpected. Sometimes they also made interesting ideas for a jump-scare, that was made in an interesting and creative way. But beside that, this movie was overall just very, very boring. It missed the suspense and the adrenaline that for example the previous one had. It was also many scenes that I felt was just there to fill up the time and make the movie longer. Some characters had backstories that suddenly appeared in from time to time, but later they never really explained more of it. The last act was just too much. Some devils just came and gone, and it was too much mess here and there, the action was either entertaining or interesting in any way. The Nun II did have so many devils, but The Nun did appear only a few times in here, so I wondered if it could be better if they changed the title, for example to Tales of The Nun? It could have been so much better, and I could understand the idea better. From my point of view this is only called The Nun II, only for the sake of the sequel reputation. But god, how disappointing. This is probably one of the most boring movies from this year that I have seen so far. To summary, this was a totally waste of time. It missed entertainment and suspense, and just so many details that could have been fixed. If you liked the first one, I don't know if you should watch this one. I had so high expectations, but well, not every movie is as good as they are showing on trailers, unfortunately. I can safely say that the trailer was much better than the movie.

Sister Irene is called upon by The Church to look into several strange and gruesome deaths of people attached to The Church. It is clear that The demonic Valek is back, and searching for something.

Better than the first movie, but then I would say that was below average in terms of quality, I do however enjoy the franchise. I don't honestly think prior knowledge of the first is essential here, for anyone unsure, you could pick this one up easily.

Plenty of jump scares, there's enough here to keep horror fans entertained, but if you're looking for an intricate and deep story, that's not really what this film is about.

Some great use of lighting, they got it spot on, it's very atmosphere and sinister, the subtle visions of The Nun appearing look great. The streets of France look amazing, and that array of classic cars was incredible.

There's some truly imaginative and atmospheric imagery, the scene with the magazines for me was the best of them, the trouble is, they showed all of the best bits in the trailers.

The nun itself, she was well used, the didn't make the mistake of over lighting her as they did in the first, she presented a real menace.

Several well known faces to watch out for good to see the likes of Suzanne Bertish and David Horovitch, for me it was Jonas Bloquet who stood out as Maurice

Overall, this was a lot better than I expected, I really would recommend it.

7/10.

"The Nun II" (2023) skillfully sustains its momentum, escalates the suspense, and delivers some genuinely terrifying moments. The narrative is tightly woven, with each scene expertly building upon the last.

In comparison to its predecessor, "The Nun II" is significantly more accomplished. It may not be ready to ascend the ranks of the greatest horror films, but when it hits its stride, it's a truly chilling experience.

The film's direction is coherent and articulate, a significant improvement over the first movie. Each scene is purposeful, driving the narrative forward while developing the characters and building suspense.

The film invests time in character development, adding depth and soul to its characters, unlike the first installment. For instance, the scene where Sister Irene confronts her past presents an emotional depth to her character, making her more relatable and her struggle more palpable.

The performances are commendable, with Taissa Farmiga standing out. Her portrayal of Sister Irene is both powerful and deeply emotive, further solidifying the Farmiga sisters' stronghold on the Conjuring Universe.

However, the horror element of the character Valak is somewhat diluted due to its familiarity with audiences. The anticipation and fear gradually build up scene after scene, only to result in the familiar sight of Valak, leaving audiences longing for more unpredictability and diversity in the scares.

Nevertheless, "The Nun II" has a cleaner narrative structure compared to the first movie, and the final act offers an aptly exaggerated dose of horror.

The movie's technical aspects, including set design, costume, and art direction, are top-notch. The haunting beauty of the abbey, combined with the stark contrast between the nuns' white habits and the decaying surroundings, creates a visually stunning and deeply unsettling atmosphere.

In conclusion, the movie is a significant improvement over its predecessor, offering a more focused narrative, stronger character development, and a better-executed horror experience despite the familiarity of its main antagonist.

Demons thrive in abbeys and churches, tarnishing their supposed sanctity. These modern holy places are far from what they seem. Even the senior priests, who should embody righteousness, exude an unsettling aura of soullessness and relentless rigidity. It's as if they harbour cryptic similarities and questionable motives. The subsequent demise of the young protagonists fails to deliver the anticipated dread, leaving one unimpressed. Despite the stellar performance of the actress portraying the demon nun, her appearance lacks the desired impact. The entire narrative unfolds predictably, with conflicts following a formulaic pattern. Watching this fabricated tale requires great effort, a luxury I simply cannot afford. 😒😒😒

...but the first three quarters of the film was well done. The ending was a little too wild for me. Too much display of power on the part of the demon. The actors were wonderful, the back ground was awesome and the storyline had potential. But they just went a little too far with the ending. Some creative ideas were incorporated in the sequel, but for the most part it reminded me of the action adventure superhero movies where too much razzle dazzle show of strength can ruin a film. It wasn't a creepy nail biter like 'Lights Out', and according to testimonies from real exorcists, no demon can do that many 'show of strength' stunts. It was fun to see in the theater, but I can't recommend renting it some day for those that haven't seen it.

If you're looking for a movie that makes you spill some of your popcorn, this is a good one for you. This is definitely a good movie, but maybe not as "horror" packed as most would like. It's horror in the sense of jump scares and intensity, but not much "terror". My main issue is that The Nun didn't have nearly as much screen time as much as I would have liked, and the appearance of a special someone made no sense to the plot. The movie is entertaining and the cinematography is amazing, but it's definitely a slow builder. I'd watch this again to understand it some more, and it's a definite improvement over the first film.

In 2018, this movie had so much hype but was disappointing with a cliche of jump scares. Fast forward to this year and it's actually a decent little horror flick that's much better than the first. There's a little more back story to it all that explains even some of what was going on in the first movie. No spoilers but I found the third act to actually be scary and kept my attention.

This time around there are better make up effects for fans of gore. Thankfully it's not just gory either for the sake of gross but actually kinda scary. The movie opens with a murder mystery but the audience thinks they got stuff figured out but the big payoff was like, wow! This is one of the rare horror movies that's actually scary. Jump start the horror season and sit back for two hours of a good time being scared.

In my opinion, the character "The Nun a.k.a (Valak)" was best portrayed in the movie "The Conjuring 2". I didn't like its first solo movie. The atmosphere wasn't bad, but I didn't like it anyway. I didn't like the second movie either. It could be better. In terms of atmosphere, it wasn't as good as the first movie. The plot of the movie was poor. There ara lots of horror movie clichés. There were many jump-scare scenes. I thought it was out of fashion nowadays, but they used it too much in this movie. This spoils the viewing pleasure. There were a few scenes that I liked very much. Even though it was a jump-scare scene, I liked the goat scene. The acting was good, of course, but the weak script. BTW Bonnie Aarons was great again.

I went in thinking I would like this, and I did for a while, then I started to hate it, but I ended up more or less fine with what I got. First let me explain the hate.

The movie starts well, has creative scenes and suitable jump scares early on with solid acting and silky cinematography, but then you get the creepy feeling that you've seen all this before...the slow pans, the light flickers, the sudden drop in volume leading into a jump scare...and not even in other movies-just a few minutes earlier, in this movie. The first rate performance of Farmiga began to be eclipsed by the redundant use of fear tactics, despite the lovely locations and masterful camera work. Couple that with some frustrating inconsistencies in the risk factor the characters were facing, and it began to pull me out of the moment.

The plot, let's be honest, is only salvaged by the convincing actors and the pacing and scares, but that's not terribly uncommon for possession movies. Read it off a page and it sounds hokey as all get out. Throw it into scenes and it sometimes works, sometimes just feels like horror-flick fodder from the recycle bin. But the real sin, to me, was how powerful these spirits were, until it mattered, and then suddenly they can't seem to effectively hurt anyone. They can chase a hidden relic across multiple countries by what? Intuition? But can't locate a loud group of people hiding in a silent building two feet away?

Character development was minimal and some true ex-machina was required to stitch up the plot, so much so that we get a flashback montage at some point near the end that is supposed to explain something, but felt woefully lacking.

But, let me digress from the hate and explain why this is in no way a 3 star movie:

First, there's Taissa Farmiga. This woman has skillful mastery of emotion on screen and acts with a frenetic energy that pulls this convoluted plot along nicely. The urgency and piercing cadence of her on-screen persona feels to riveting and authentic that I'd gladly return just to watch her in another installment and I'd recommend the movie just for that. She reminds me of what i loved so much about Eddie Redmayne in the movie Black Death . The other actors lent their own skills to varying degrees, but Farmiga was the star for a reason.

Then, the filming. The locations, lighting, camera work and sets were all rich and expertly crafted, immersing the viewer in the dusty glory of post-war Europe. Visually, the movie was very effective and up there with anything that's come out in the last few years. I enjoyed watching it, in the literal sense of the word.

Also, I like catholic horror, and despite the quirky plot and weird risk inconsistencies, the general vibe of the film was something I enjoyed, although that is very much a preference, as sometime who consumes a lot of these kinds of films.

So, maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I just need a little faith and shouldn't have to explain things, but man, these demons are so limited by plot convenience it feels like the devil himself can't foil this lazy writing, much less sniff out sobbing school girls in small confined areas, and no matter how many times you get choked, burned, slammed against stones, bashed in the head or casually tossed across a castle, if you've got God (AKA plot) on your side, you won't even limp in the next scene. Maybe I missed some important point about how God works that the movie explained during one of my long eye rolls.

The movie is totally good. But, the ending is kinda weird, because Valak-the demon is being died too quickly. The ending scene is kinda confused.

Besides, the casts are still excellent, the plot is fine, and those scenes in the movie are amazing but the color of movie is quite dark and it is hard to see the casts and the characters. Furthermore, the volume of the characters are too low to hear but the musics are too loud to hear.

Conclusion, the movie is great, the casts are great, the plot is fine, but its ending too quick, and not only me but also the other audiences do not understand the ending.