Who would have predicted that I, a complete wimp who had to be forced to learn to ride a bike while growing up, would someday become a horror movie fan? I wouldn't have guessed it, but the more spooky movies I watch, the more I like them.
I went into The Conjuring fully prepared to be scared shitless. Jonathan Barkan, over at Bloody Disgusting--a horror film website--writes in his review of the film, "I think I’ve made it pretty clear by now but I need to just plainly state it: This movie scared me" and pointed out that the film is rated R not for sex, gore, or language--but simply for being too scary for a PG-13 rating. If a hardened horror film enthusiast like Barkan was scared, what would I be? Dead from a heart attack?
But, to my delight, The Conjuring managed to thrill me more than scare the crap out of me. Director James Wan, who began his career with the fetishistic original Saw film, proves to be a master of atmosphere. He directs The Conjuring with a steady, controlled hand--consistently doling out scares while ramping up the terror bit by bit. And he doesn't cheat us on acting, plot, or cinematography. Everything is top-notch.
The Conjuring, set in 1971, is based on a true story. Married demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren have built a career out of fighting ghosts and malevolent spirits. Lorraine has psychic powers that tell her if a house or object is haunted or possessed, and Ed is the only non-priest recognized by the Catholic Church as an "official" (or whatever) demonologist. With their powers combined, the couple help poor souls with supernatural problems.
The Warrens are contacted by Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor, who fucking kills it in this role), a wife and mother of 5 daughters whose family has recently moved into a creepy old house they got at auction. Increasingly disturbing things have been happening in the house: the clocks all stop at 3:07am every day, doors bang throughout the night, and the girls see ghosts hiding in the shadows. Carolyn begs the Warrens to help, and they agree to check out the place.
*Spoiler alert!*
Once the Warrens begin inspecting the Perron homestead, it becomes clear that this isn't a movie about a haunted house--it's a demonic possession movie. Lorraine senses many spirits in the home, but one--the spirit of a witch who sacrificed her baby to Satan and then hanged herself--stands out as the cause of all the trouble.
The Warrens explain that this spirit doesn't just want the Perrons to leave--it wants to kill the family. It's hateful, and it's been the cause of numerous deaths and suicides on the land ever since the witch killed herself centuries before.
The film escalates from cerebral ghost-hunting story to visceral exorcism movie, complete the Carolyn Perron taken over by the witch's spirit and vomiting blood.
*End spoilers*
In addition to the effective, nerve-jangling scares, The Conjuring is pretty to look at, with its muted colors and retro clothing and cars. It also has AMAZING acting all around. The four adult leads: Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston as Carolyn and Roger Perron, and Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, are excellent. Taylor and Linvingston's portrayal of loving, frightened parents is spot-on and Wilson and Farmiga refuse to ham it up as professional ghostbusters.
The young actresses who play the Perron daughters are all great too and, refreshingly, not creepy like kids in horror movies tend to be.
A lot of horror movies are done on the cheap, with bad acting and poor special effects, giving the genre a seedy reputation. What James Wan has done with The Conjuring is create a quality film that also happens to have wall-to-wall scares.
4.5 out of 5 stars
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