ON June 9 only three new films opened in Canberra. On paper, none promised much. On the day, Australian filmmaker James Wan’s recounting of the paranormal event in 1977 known as the Enfield Poltergeist delivered unexpected cinematic qualities, some good, others less so.

There’s a parallel between this film and 1979’s “The Amityville Horror”. Sceptics (of which I am one) consider both events to be, if not deliberate hoaxes for whatever reason, then conjurations for purposes that can only be conjectured.

James Wan’s first film “Saw” (2004) impressed me for the sheer dramatic quality of its invented plot involving nasty goings on. Happiness, sweetness and gentle behaviour have no part in his films. But he’s good at doing compelling nasty.

“The Conjuring 2” is less a nasty than a pot-boiler about ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night. Such merit as it has comes from 13-year-old Madison Wolfe as 11-year-old Janet who, in a screenplay by Chad and Carey Hayes drawing heavily on contemporary BBC and print media coverage of the event, evokes Linda Blair in “The Exorcist”.

Janet is given to making like Billy who died 40 years previously in the house now occupied by single mother Peggy (Frances O’Connor) and her siblings. Billy wants his house back.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play married American psychic researchers engaged to go to London to sort things out.

Screenplay and direction sometimes weaken the film’s delivery of fright by telegraphing where they will collide as they travel in opposite directions along the same dramatic track. For me, that happened only once and didn’t last longer than a millisecond.

At Hoyts, Palace Electric, Capitol 6 and Limelight