The Conjuring Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After a family moves into a new home, they discover it is haunted and seek aid from notorious paranormal investigators.

Review: I've begun to notice a trend that the better a film does the more people seem to knock it for no good reason. There are already reviews claiming this film was overhyped, not scary, and even bad. It had some cool trailers, but, beyond that, how was it overhyped? The real most overhyped movies this year were all the bombs--I could have told you "The Conjuring" was going to easily blow away the likes of "R.I.P.D." and fucking "Turbo." I mean, come on, really?! Yes, critics are praising it because it deserves the praise, but it's as if the more successful a movie becomes, the more people feel they need to take away from it; I want to refer to it as "Avatar/Inception syndrome" or something like that. The only real downside I noticed was an overall sense of unoriginality to the scares as it's mostly things we have viewed many times before, but this film still manages to make the scares their own and in a stylized way. Some have said most were jump scares, but I disagree and for me the best scene in the whole film didn't even show a ghost and was making me anxious as hell which I'll go into at the end. Obviously I really liked this film as it was truly creepy with some genuinely terrifying moments with that added sense of dread that perhaps some of the events may have actually occurred.

Okay, let's first deal with the validity of this allegedly "true story." I should note there is also a detailed and prolonged history to the film's production you can explore too. If you want to really get to the bottom of it all, check out the "House of Darkness House of Light" books to hear the story from the Perron family. But to be fair to the skeptics, the books tell the tale more than 30 years after the events and that leaves a lot of room to let your imagination run wild or, at the very least, for us to question the accuracy of your recollection. The infamous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, have stated that it was the most disturbing case they had dealt with, but if it was as severe as it is claimed to be, why did the Perron family stay in the house for 10 years? No one died so the threat was not as immediate as well. Eh, I never know what to think in these situations, because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but I am never satisfied with no major physical evidence (I mean beyond an audio recording, etc.); in the movie there's all kinds of recordings and documentation but not very convincing evidence in reality. Oh well, nothing I can say will change anyone's mind and I'm no expert on the story so on with the show!

As I mentioned, there is this stylized, old school 1970s feel, which is appropriate as it is the '70s in the story, but it's more than that. There was a clear and successful attempt to instill certain techniques, tone, and scares specific to that decade of horror films; besides the fact that there is a character who becomes possessed, this is one of the main reasons many keep claiming it feels like "The Exorcist." I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment, but I can understand why many draw that conclusion. However, like "The Exorcist," this film is scary as hell with some awesome setups, in your face scares, and, yes, even cheap jump scares, but they're done well. We first get an interesting introduction to the Warrens, to establish their extensive history dealing with the supernatural, when we are regaled with the tale of a haunted doll which leads to some freaky scenes both at the onset of the film and one of the best scenes toward the end. The Warrens are played excellently by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga who portray their characters with a lot of heart. And for some reason I feel inclined to say, Mr. Wilson (hey Mr. Wilson!), please stop doing other genres and become a horror king because you seem to feel so at home in these kind of movies. But the primary focus of the story is on the Perron family of seven as they discover the horror that lurks in their new home. The parents are played by Lili Taylor who does an impressive job carrying a large portion of the film and of course my boy Ron Livingston (Say hi to Lumbergh for me!). The five daughters are played mostly by recognizable faces from various recent films, but they're each given a time to shine throughout the film as they deliver a realistic sense of fright.

So the story is never that complicated as essentially we see one cool setup after another as the Perrons are haunted, seek the help of the Warrens, and then attempt to end the haunting. Now, granted, most of the early scares are things we've come to expect from a haunted house film such as items moving on their own, scared pets, whispers, etc., but as the film picks up we get some truly remarkable moments worthy of a top horror list. I don't want to spoil too many because it's best to see them for yourself and be caught off guard. I only wish the many trailers hadn't shown so much because the clapping game scenes are really great and would have had me more tense if hadn't already known the outcomes! There are multiple ghosts in the home but the main one is some kind of malevolent spirit that is semi-demonic so I guess it's like a hybrid. Supposedly there was a woman named Bathsheba who was believed to be a witch and sacrificed a child or her child to satan. The movie's version and the folklore surrounding this woman differ quite a bit so who knows what's truth here. Whatever, her evil spirit inhabits the house, and land for that matter, as she seeks to possess the mother and kill the kids; Bathsheba is disturbing-looking enough, but I would have preferred a slightly different approach to her makeup effects. The actual most memorable and horrifying moments are when you don't see anything and your expectations are toyed with. This is why I didn't understand the jump scare criticism since many scenes required the audience to put themselves in the situation to appreciate how unsettling the scenario was, but I guess if the music spikes that automatically makes it a jump scare? I'll admit the ending feels a bit abrupt, despite having a strong and insane climax, mostly because everything just wraps up in a nice, neat package with a typical Hollywood happy ending out of the blue. They're already discussing a sequel so maybe we will have more with the Perron story, but I imagine they will simply continue with another tale from the Warren's history.

Overall, this was an incredibly scary film definitely worthy of the praise and success it is receiving thus far. Sure, it had it's fair share of flaws, questionable editing, a hint of unoriginality, and an overly sentimental ending, but it's strong points and high scare factor severely outweigh these problems. The acting, pacing, style, atmosphere, and musical score were all exceptional and commendable. There was also a creative use of a limited budget and a play on the audience's expectations and imagination that deserves to be mentioned. I highly recommend this film for reminding me I can still feel uneasy hours or days after watching a film. I really need to assemble a top 10 horror film list!

Notable Moment: When the one daughter is nearly pulled out of her bed by a ghost. The tension and fear is properly built up as she carefully checks under the bed only to realize the ghost is by the door. This is followed by the girl telling her sister something is in the shadows. Although we never see anything, this is how you execute an awesome scare by merely playing on the imagination of the audience. This is also a great example of how to create powerful scares with a smaller budget and without shitty CGI.

Final Rating: 7.5/10