The Conjuring (2013)

The Conjuring (2013)

I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of this year’s highly touted horror film The Conjuring.  I’ve heard nothing but great things about this movie and admittedly, I was scared before I even started to watch it.  I wasn’t disappointed, but at the same time this wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.  I didn’t know anything about the plot going in, I just knew that it was a James Wan film meaning it was likely going to be terrifying. The most unsettling part of the film is the “based on a true story” tag that it proudly displays.

The Plot

Ed and Lorraine Warren aren’t your normal everyday couple.  They are a happily married team of Paranormal Investigators who pursue cases of haunting all across the country.  Ed (Patrick Wilson) is a renowned demonologist, while his wife Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) is a talented Clairvoyant.  The two form a very effective team having resolved hundreds of cases together, but their biggest challenge lies ahead in the form of the Perron family.  The Perron’s are a large family of seven, with two loving parents and five young daughters.  Terrible right, and I haven’t even gotten to the scary part yet.

It's called a condom Jackass!

One evening, while playing a game of hide and clap, one of the girls stumbles into a closet and discovers a hidden stairway to a dark and terrifying basement.  “Why was it boarded up?  Is it dangerous down there?” a normal person might ask.  Fuck it, its storage space now.  After that night, the haunting begins, subtle at first.  The youngest daughter claims to have a new imaginary friend, which leads me to wonder, “Why the fuck do little kids always befriend the terrifying demon?” 

Hello Friend!

 Two of the other daughters are experiencing difficulty in the new house as well.  One of the girls has taken to strolling the house in the dead of night, pausing only to bang her head rhythmically on a massive wardrobe.  The other see's a demon standing in her doorway.  Soon it is evident that something malevolent is going on.  Mrs. Perron however seems to be getting the worst of it.  She wakes up every morning with fresh bruises.  I know I wasn’t the only one giving Mr. Perron a long judging look, but apparently the demon is in fact responsible for the marks.

Yeah it was the uh, demon.  It donkey punched her I saw it.

  Later, while exploring the crazy terrifying new basement alone one evening, Mrs. Warren gets locked in.  The lights go out and she is trapped down there with the demon.  She is never the same afterwards, but she does have the foresight to seek the help of our beloved ghost hunting tandem.

And there ain't no Scooby Snacks!

My Take

This movie is scary as fuck.  It’s not quite as good as Sinister, which I could watch everyday, but it is definitely in the same league.  It has a similar feel to the Amityville Horror, which is cool because Ed and Lorrain investigated that case as well. 

The special effects were good.  The use of CG was limited in this film, giving it a more authentic feel, though the scene where one of the daughters gets dragged along the floor by her hair is a bit cheesy.  I loved the make up for the demons and ghosts.  Wan’s signature pale faced ghosts are always terrifying.  I liked that this film didn’t rely on “found footage,” but it could have used it a bit more in a few scenes to add jump scares.  This film has the makings to become a respectable cult classic, and it makes for one hell of a horror thriller. 

It still disturbs me that this film is based on a true story.  In one scene, the Warrens doing a presentation to an auditorium full of people, including Mrs. Perron.  The camera pans across the audience and right front and center is an elderly woman.  I was like who is this old bitch and what is she doing at a presentation about exorcism, shouldn’t she be put playing bridge somewhere?  It turns out this scene is a cameo, and the old woman is the real life Lorraine Warren.  Foot in mouth, respect to Lorraine Warren.   

Overall The Conjuring is an excellent film, worthy of the hype it received.  The progressive storytelling and chilling scares are very well done.  I really wish I would have seen this one in theaters to get the full effect of the scares, but even at home, this movie still holds up and manages to scare you.

Also this

8.5/10