Movie Review: The Conjuring (2013)
Director James Wan has made quite a name for himself in the horror genre. Directing the low budget, high concept Saw as well as Dead Silence, Death Sentence and Insidious. However, with The Conjuring, Wan gives us his best film to date.
Going down the ‘based on a true story’ path, The Conjuring happens in 1971 and is the tale of The Perrons, who are a family of seven that consisted of Mum, Dad and five daughters. When they move into a farm house, the strange happenings start and after one particularly harrowing night the Perron family go looking for help in the form of paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren.
Right from the get go, The Conjuring produces a great atmosphere. The prologue story is creepy in itself, but it also introduces the Warrens. This establishes the Warrens in the story and in a lot of ways the film is as much about the Warrens as it is about the Perron family and this is what makes the film great. The Perron family, consisting of Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) and their tribe of daughters (Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy and Kyla Deaver), are the archetype family in the 70s. The actors, Wan and screenwriters (Chad and Carey Hayes) do a great job in getting the mix perfect with the interactions between each other being truly believable. When the Perron haunting begins (with some well crafted scares. The “Hide And Clap” game is just sublime), you get a real sense of dread and actually care about the family. When the Warrens start to interact with the family, you get the sense that they really care about the family which only further enhances the scares when they happen. I liked how the Warrens weren’t just portrayed as ghost hunters, but as actual people with a family and a past. These moments were what gave the film even more gravitas when people where in danger.
The acting is excellent from everyone. Everyone keeps it realistic despite the crazy events going on around them. However, the standout is Lili Taylor. Such a brave and restrained performance considering that her role could’ve sent her into over acting territory, Taylor keeps everything grounded. An amazing performance and she should be recognised with award nominations, at least! Wilson and Farmiga are outstanding as the Warrens, with both of them playing off each other and producing a great chemistry between them.
Wan’s directing and pacing is on point throughout a majority of The Conjuring. The slow dread that he gets to permeate the film early on is outstanding. With every creak, every bump, every slowly opening door, you can feel Wan leading you slowly down the path to an inevitable scare. Sometimes Wan employs the time-worn classic double jump scare, however, he crafts the scares so well that you are willing to forgive him for this. Sometimes he goes big and it’s some of these moments that you get the chill running up your back. Wan also gets the 1970’s dead on. Amazing attention to detail with everything from clothes, cars and even cups looking the part. When the title card for the film scrolls on-screen, this looks and feels every bit like a ’70s film. The score is excellent, going a long way to helping create the aforementioned atmosphere. Really great work from Joseph Bishara.
So, is The Conjuring scary? Well, I guess it depends on how far you are willing to go along with the film and your own beliefs. I was really into the film until the over the top finale, however, it doesn’t derail the film at all. It just took me out of the heavy atmosphere the film had created. The (real life) Warrens themselves are a polarizing couple, with some believing they are legit whilst others loudly decry them as frauds. The film doesn’t make comment on that, but rather takes the Warrens on face value. However, an investigation into the Warrens claims is not the purpose of the film. A finely crafted scare fest that loses a bit of traction towards the end, The Conjuring is one of the better, if not the best, film of its kind in some years.
Check out our other review for The Conjuring:
Comments are closed.