The Conjuring made a big impact on the US box office grossing over
$100,000,000 making The Conjuring’s as
successful as James Wan’s previous project Insidious
(whose sequel comes out later this year). James Wan has made his name in
the horror genre directing the first Saw
movie and producing the rest of the franchise as well as directing films such
as Dead Silence and the already
mentioned Insidious.
Apparently based on a true story The Conjuring tells the story of the
paranormal investigation which was believed to be too terrifying to release,
however eventually Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga)
feel the time is right to release the story. The story in question surrounds
the events that took place at Roger and Carolyn Perron’s (Ron Livingston and Lilli
Taylor) isolated farmhouse in 1971. The incident in question is of a demonic
element as the inhuman entity terrorises the family of seven. The Perron family
request the help of the Warren’s when the paranormal activity becomes too
powerful to cope with on their own.
The Conjuring has been released to rave reviews from critics and
audience alike making it one of the must see horror movies this year with many proclaiming
that the film is one of the scariest films over the past few years, however, The Conjuring doesn’t tread over any new
ground as many of the genre’s tropes, conventions and trademarks are evident in
The Conjuring. Yet despite these
genre conventions and tropes being regularly used in the horror genre since the
genre existed they still work effectively if done correctly, and on the whole
they work effectively enough in The
Conjuring. The Conjuring is best
described as a popcorn spiller, more hardened horror film fans will see many of
the predictable jump scares coming from mile away, yet will be impressed by the
tension sustained in the parts of the film. The film will work on more
levels with the casual horror film fans that may not recognise the many aspects
of the film which are taken from other horror movies.
The Conjuring has been described as The Exorcist meets The
Amityville Horror meets Poltergeist,
and of course many elements and ideas of these films are used to influence the
ideas in The Conjuring. For example
the location, and even the look of the house, is vastly similar to the one in The Amityville Horror (the thing I loved about the house in The Amityville Horror is that the two uppermost windows give the
impression that the house has eyes). Aspects of The Exorcist in The Conjuring
are seen in the exorcism sequences in which the possessed victim levitates in
the air similarly to way Regan levitated in the air in the 1973 classic. The
film is set in the early the 70s and thus it isn’t a great surprise that many
of the film’s influences stem from that era, the film’s mood and setting are
similar to the 70s ghost stories.
Handsomely made, well shot and
efficiently acted The Conjuring takes
time to actually kick into the gear following the film’s creepy introduction.
With exception of one or two creepy events James Wan fails to maintain a level
of tension in the earlier stages of the haunting. This is because the more routine paranormal activities
followed a set out guide of starting a story in which a house is infested by a
ghost or demon. Wan does not achieve a strong enough chill factor to make the
film’s opening act a creepy one as the demon’s more mundane activities feel
mundane and tired. Though, however, things explode into life in the film’s
second and final acts as it becomes a highly entertaining, yet never frightening, special
effects extravaganza. The performances across the board are effective enough as
both Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga bring an element of believability to
proceedings as they play the roles with a straight face.
The Conjuring is regarded as the horror movie event of the year as
it has freaked out audiences across the US, but whilst the film has its
effective moments of dread and decent jump scares, it is hardly the terrifying
horror movie it is made out to be, too much of genre’s conventions are used for
many of the film’s jump scares to be truly surprising for any hardened horror
fan, but yet The Conjuring is
entertaining and well acted making it a decent horror movie. As much as fun The Conjuring is it tends to startle
rather than unsettle but it is not without its moments.
3/5
Very nice review. I can understand your issues with The Conjuring and I found a lot a few moments that made me groan. The Dog that refuses to go in the house and the family does not listen to it. But I found a lot of other elements to be quite scary. Not like I pissed myself kind of scary but a few moments did make me jump
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