By Brett Blake Full disclosure: I am a person predisposed to enjoy a movie like THE CONJURING. I love horror films (and haunted house stories, particularly), and I have a familiarity with Ed and Lorraine Warren - the movie’s main characters - and their rather storied history in the paranormal investigation world. I suppose this is just my way of saying “Any opinions appearing herein could be taken with a grain of salt,” but I want to be honest - this movie knocked me out of my seat. I have no problem calling THE CONJURING the best American haunted house film since 1982’s POLTERGEIST. Admittedly, that might not appear to be saying all that much (the subgenre has a less-than-impressive roster), but I mean it as high praise. This is an intense, frightening ride that should work like gangbusters for fans of the genre. After a semi-James Bondian/Indiana Jonesish “Let’s see the conclusion of an unrelated adventure!” opening sequence that introduces the Warrens (portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) as effective demonologists/paranormal researchers and establishes the kind of tone we’re in for, the movie then moves on to detail the (supposedly true) trials of the Perron family (with Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor at the head) as they move into a new home. Almost right from the jump, strange occurrences begin to happen - ominous noises in the middle of the night, dead animals, stopped clocks. Things get more and more threatening, which leads the Perrons to track down the Warrens for help. That’s all I want to say, plot-wise; that’s not to imply that the film is hiding some kind of big twist, because it isn’t, but the exact nature of what’s going on in the Perrons’ house is something that’s best left discovered in the theater while watching the movie unfold. The acting, across the board, is excellent. As the Warrens, Wilson and Farmiga do a wonderful job of portraying these people as very normal folks, despite their unusual vocation. They’ve got a matter-of-fact way of explaining the supernatural to the people around them that is surprisingly compelling and endearing, and the strength that they derive from their religious foundation is treated seriously (and, again, matter-of-factly) by the movie when it easily could have been used to make them seem strange or caricatured. Livingston and Taylor do equally good work as the parents of the increasingly-tormented Perron family, and the five young actresses playing their daughters have to do some quite demanding emotional and physical stuff; they are entirely convincing, and are a big part of the reason the story works as well as it does - we care about all the people involved. Obviously, the most important standard by which a haunted house movie should be judged is whether or not it’s effective, and THE CONJURING certainly is that. From the get-go, director James Wan (of SAW and INSIDIOUS fame) establishes a palpable feeling of unease; similarly, there is an incredible atmosphere and mood that is very unsettling. Wan’s usage of camera movement and framing/shot composition is, frankly, superb throughout the film, never drawing attention to itself in a flashy, “look at me!” sort of way, but rather impressing with its creativity and (relative) restraint. Wan also deserves credit for the utterly classical approach he employs in terms of his filmmaking style. The movie is set in the early 1970s, and aside from a few tiny areas, it feels and looks like it could have been made back then. In addition to the classical approach, Wan also keeps things fairly classy in terms of content; the movie avoids cheese, sleaze, and graphic or gratuitous imagery at all costs. Much has been made about the fact that the movie has no profanity, no sex, and very little bloodshed, and yet still received an R rating from the ratings board, and I think that’s a testament to the movie’s overall success - it doesn’t need to use any of those things as crutches to keep the audience interested, or to freak them out. The movie definitely earns its R rating, however. It’s an incredibly intense experience, with moments of spectacular and sublime tension that increase in almost exponential severity as it barrels towards its climax. The movie utilizes the old horror movie standard, the “jump scare,” quite liberally, but most of them are delightfully effective. I pride myself on having seen enough scary movies that I can usually tell when a jump is coming (there’s usually a certain kind of editing rhythm to them that’s fairly easy for me to key into), but there were moments in this movie where I could FEEL a scare was about to happen… and it still got me anyway! Additionally, the jumps in this film tend to serve a larger purpose within the context of the scene in which they take place, and they frequently involve either clever misdirection or some neat, spooky bit of business, which helps transcend the sometimes cheap/easy nature of the jump scares you’d find in lesser horror movies. As with any film, of course there are flaws and nitpicks to be found if you’re looking. The musical score by Joseph Bishara is something of a mixed bag, for example, with the more ambient, atmospheric moments working very well, and the more bombastic sections coming across as unnecessarily bludgeoning and overdone. The ending is somewhat problematic (for reasons I can’t really get into), also; I don’t know what it is about this genre, but it seems like very few haunted house stories actually stick the landing. This one comes close, but there’s a certain abruptness to the climax (I’m treading carefully here) that could have been solved with just a few tweaks. A fairly minor complaint, as everything that comes before is aces. Again, I feel like I need to stress that I’m an easy mark for movies like this. Your personal mileage may vary, but I found THE CONJURING to be a well-made, enormously harrowing and chilling experience, and it’s one of my favorite films of the year.
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