The Conjuring Review

The Conjuring

3.5 stars out of 4

By Brett Takeshita

Nothing will prepare you for The Conjuring. This is a miracle of a horror film, stripped of the all too common blood, guts, gore, and CGI that are so typical in today's horror movies. It's an ode to old-fashioned haunted house and demonic possession films. However, it's retro style shouldn't cause you to dismiss it or take it lightly. The Conjuring is the creepiest and scariest horror movie in years.

The Conjuring is based upon the true story of the Perron family. In 1971, Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) moved into an old Rhode Island home with their five young daughters. All seems well at first. The house and the surrounding environment is spacious. The daughters are happy with the home. Everything appears normal. However, things start to turn strange very soon. The family dog constantly barks at the house and refuses to go inside. Every single clock freezes at 3:15 A.M. The girls complain about a horrific smell like rotting meat filling the house. Lili finds dark bruises on her body every morning. The youngest daughter sees a little boy roaming around, attempting to talk to her. Strange noises fill the halls at night. And all of this is just the beginning.

Scared out of their minds, the Perrons contact the Warrens, two prestigious and married paranormal investigators who help people with unordinary and seemingly unexplainable phenomena. Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) is a woman with the ability to see spirits and experience paranormal sensation. Ed (Patrick Wilson) is an intelligent individual with a background in exorcism who uses technology to look for clues that might be able to pinpoint what is causing these strange events. When the Warrens arrive at the Perron house, Ed and Lorraine soon realize that this family is in danger. There is a hateful evil presence lurking about the house and terrorizing the family. Ed and Lorraine thus set out to save the Perron family and restore order to an overwhelmingly horrific situation.

With The Conjuring, director James Wan proves that he is one of the finest horror filmmakers working today. He totally owns this movie and makes it as effective as it is. This is a slow-burn horror movie. Wan takes his time to set up his story. He opens with a very eery introduction involving the scariest on-screen doll in quite some time. Then, Wan takes his time to establish his setting, his characters, and his story. (It helps that the script by writers Chad and Carey Hayes is very strong, especially for a horror film). But just because the movie starts with a slow-pace doesn't mean it's boring. In fact, it's entirely engrossing. Wan hooks us from the very beginning and casts a weird spell. He puts us ever so slightly on edge and keeps us thinking as to how this movie will unfold. And trust me when I say that your patience will be greatly rewarded, for The Conjuring turns crazy scary right after Wan lays out the roadmap for the film.

As soon as things start turning weird in the house, the film proves so frightening because of James Wan's directorial decisions. He knows when to hold a shot and when to quickly cut. He makes use of intriguing camera work -- slow punch-ins, precise dolly movements, frenetic steadicam spins -- to instill a sense of dread within the audience. (Cinematographer John R. Leonetti is wonderful. The vintage look and washed out colors completely enhance the mood and style). Wan is a master of tone, knowing exactly when to overwhelm the audience with terror and exactly when to inject the film with melancholy and mystery. He knows when to frighten his audience with quieter, subtler scares and louder, jump scares to maximum effect. And what is perhaps most noteworthy about his variety of scares is that they never feel cheap. They always feel authentic and completely germane to the film at hand. (You're not gonna get a random cat jumping out at you).

Some of Wan's most terrifying sequences involve the game "Hide and Clap," in which one player is blindfolded, and that player must find the others involved only by listening to an occasional clap from the other players. These sequences are flawless. The sound design is simply phenomenal, with a quiet and minimal clap instilling true fear within the audience. The camera moves slowly. The silence is too much to bear. And ultimately, these scenes truly rattle the nerves. I know I won't be playing "Hide and Clap" anytime soon.

What elevates The Conjuring to the stratosphere of horror is its fine, sympathetic performances. Often times, actors in horror films are expendable. Most are subpar at best, and a few are quite weak. Fortunately, The Conjuring is filled with brilliant actors who truly sell this movie. Vera Farmiga is absolutely lovely. She is a character whom we totally believe. Farmiga plays this character with such striking conviction and brings such gravitas to the picture. Equally impressive is Patrick Wilson. He perfectly complements Farmiga, with his magnetic presence and quiet power and strength. The chemistry between these two is excellent. Ron Livingston makes the most of his supporting role by bringing his A-game and never letting the other actors overshadow him. And Lili Taylor is fantastic, embodying fear and grace with ease. She gives a brave and challenging performance that is both physically and mentally demanding. Even all of the little young actresses in this film shine with each of their individual moments. The cast is uniformly phenomenal, easily the finest assembly of actors in a horror film in years.

The final act of this film is absolutely harrowing. It's a little more conventional than the first two acts of the film, but nevertheless, it is done extremely well. The scares are frequent, the suspense is unrelenting, and the imagery is entirely disturbing. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that The Conjuring builds to a sensational conclusion that had me gripping my armrests -- my heart was beating out of my chest. Boy, it is so intense but so completely satisfying. Even if you want to look away or cover your eyes, you won't be able to. It is just that crazy good.

While The Conjuring is not a reinvention of the horror genre, it is a damn good example of how to do it right. It is unbelievably scary and entirely entertaining. I am a huge fan of horror movies, but I rarely am scared by them. This is the first movie in a long time to actually creep me out and stick with me for a while. I slept fine at night, but I was definitely thinking about the movie -- especially the haunting and thought-provoking last scene -- for quite some time. The Conjuring seems like a classic in the making. Three and a half stars out of four.