Today’s Halloween Horror Movie Review!
The Conjuring (2013)
Making a good horror movie does not happen by accident. It takes a particular talent to grab hold of an audience and not let go for the length of a film. It’s not just about hiding monsters in the dark. There are many elements that combine to make a frightening film and in The Conjuring director, James Wan demonstrates he knows how to use each of them to his advantage.
The Conjuring tells the true-ish story of Ed and Lorraine Warren in the groovy time frame of the early 70’s. The Warrens are Demonologists, Paranormal Investigators, or Ghostbusters without the proton packs. Traveling the country, they educate college students on their paranormal encounters, as well as assist with any supernatural activity they can. They both bring something to their investigations as Lorraine is an empathetic clairvoyant and Ed was even the only Demonologist to ever be recognized by the Catholic Church.
The Warren’s face their greatest terror ever when Roger and Carolyn Perron, along with their five children, encounter what appear to be several dark spirits haunting their new country home. What begins as mild whispers quickly escalates to horror as the Warren’s attempt to gather proof of the haunting for the church, before the demons can take things to the next horrific level, potential targeting the Warren’s own daughter in the process.
The performances of the cast are exceptionally well done for a film of this genre, especially the performance of Vera Farmiga, whose portrayal of Lorraine Warren is a just terrific. The characters aren’t annoying people who do idiotic things just because they might think it’s a good idea at the time. And when the suspense hits a high note near the end of the film, you will actually be rooting for them to make it out and not cheering when they get swung around by the supernatural beings.
Never in the film did I feel like there was a cheapness by devolving into jump scares, the tired tropes of this genre. There are numerous objects at play here, from the gloomy cellar to secrets in the walls, and each of them seems to be another character in the film.
My Halloween Horror Movie Rating!
This leads me to one conclusion my friends; this movie will scare the daylight out of you. My rating, out of five fangs, this one gets 5 BIG bites!