The Conjuring Review
RYAN: This is the new horror film starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, by director James Wan who’s now become a definitive voice in the genre; considering he did Saw and Insidious prior to this. This is his best film, so far. It’s the most beautifully articulated in that American horror always manipulates scares through sound and editing, but this one is expertly photographed. You’re thrown off from the start with camera angles and the cinematography enhances the intensity.
ERIC: It’s a more complete movie than some of his previous work, particularly Insidious which was fun but felt low-budget in comparison. This was a much better looking film, as you said, and it’s well put together.
RYAN: I wasn’t horrified to the point of nightmares, but there are some scares. This movie could make you second guess some little noises in the night.
ERIC: Yeah it’s not the scariest movie I’ve ever seen but it totally creates an atmosphere with a creepy environment which is sustained throughout the entire film.
RYAN: The first forty minutes are very uncomfortable and tense and then it lulls a bit in the middle while building to an amazing climax.
RYAN: I love the time period. The colorization and the ’70s costumes and hair added to its creep factor.
ERIC: And the fact that they’re combating the demonic forces without anything high tech adds to the element of surprise.
RYAN: It’s based on a true story and real people. The Warrens made their life’s work tracking demonic possession of relics and people and places. And this focuses mainly on one real family whose experience inspired this. The film is certainly dramatized, taking the events much further than what actually happened, just for the scare tactics; but, it’s still cool to think there’s something real to it.
ERIC: And Lili Taylor, who plays the mother, was very good. It was cool to see her because she’s been off the mainstream radar for a while. Ron Livingston, the father…
RYAN: …Burger!
ERIC: Yeah – he was good too, but underutilized.
RYAN: And of the five daughters, the one that’s building a name is Joey King, who’s having the best year ever. She was China Girl in Oz the Great and Powerful and also just played Channing Tatum’s daughter in White House Down, with another movie and this, she’s had four released in five months!
ERIC: The women really drive the story. The men are fine but it’s the females who make the story interesting.
RYAN: And interesting, being the operative word, for that crazy, female doll Annabelle.
ERIC: She was freaky looking but I feel like she was a bit of a pothole in the story.
RYAN: Her use in the film didn’t irk me but it does go to show how far these movies dramatize what’s based on real events. In the movie, the doll looks like an absolutely terrifying fright, but the real doll is just a big Raggedy Ann doll.
ERIC: I did not know that.
RYAN: There are clever shades of imagery from The Exorcist, Poltergeist and other classic horror films, if you look for them. That’s wisely done because when you’re dealing with possession and exorcism in film, you’re never gonna do better than The Exorcist, so to harken back to it on screen illicits the familiar fear.
ERIC: Yes there is a lot about this movie that is not original. But in this case, it works because it’s crafted well and the atmosphere works for it and then in the end, you go along with the dynamite climax.
RYAN: I actually didn’t take too many mental notes during this film because I lost myself in it a little bit. It hooked me enough to the point where I could forget I was reviewing it and just get into it.
ERIC: And I got a sense the audience was into it as well.
RYAN: Exactly. Sometimes in scary movies, the audience shouts out or laughs inappropriately. But this was a quiet audience because we were all into it.
ERIC: Right. It kept everyone on edge. It’s worth seeing.
RYAN: If you like a scary movie, this one is good. It doesn’t talk down to you. It’s strong. I recommend it.
