The Conjuring (2013) - Movie review
25/10/2016.
Based on the true case files of the Warrens.
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.
Spoiler free area!
The Conjuring is directed by James Wan who also gave us "Saw", "Insidious" and written by brothers Chad and Carey Hayes. It stars Patrick Wilson from "Insidious", Vera Farmiga from "The Departed" and Lili Taylor.
As someone who went into this movie completely blind as to what it was about, i was glad that i got to experience all the scares first hand. I later heard complaints from others on the internet, that the trailer ruined the movie for them by showing all the scares beforehand and after watching the trailer after having watched the movie, i can completely understand their frustration. Luckily i got to experience it unspoiled and the movie was that much better for it.
Patrick and Vera are terrific as the paranormal investigators and seemed to really embody their real life counterparts in the most convincing way possible. Its good to see that after thousands of cases involving the paranormal they haven't become immune to the unknown and you can still see the terror on their faces when they see something that they have seen hundreds of times before, their acting was really good to make that believable. Lili Taylor who played the mother was fantastic. Joey King who played Christine was also good in certain scenes.
The movie does use the cliched jump scare but they are all meaningful in that they further the story instead of just trying to frighten the viewer for no reason, so in that regard this is not really a negative but a cliched tactic done well.The first half of the movie slowly wound up the tension and didn't give the viewer a release until the second half when stuff really started to go downhill, which made the second half all the more enjoyable.
One of the complaints i have with this movie is that beside from the main three characters Ed, Lorraine and Carolyn, the rest of the cast didn't really develop as characters. Roger played by Ron Livingston seemed to be there just to ask questions and be the loving husband and father. The five girls just seemed to be there to be the innocent children being scared and to occasionally move the plot along. The performances and character development i saw from the investigators and the mother more than made up for the lack of development from the rest of the family. These are my only complaints in what is otherwise a very creepy horror film. John Brotherton's character officer Brad became a believer by the end of the movie which was nice to see.
James Wan is really good at what he does which is building tension without relying on CGI or gore and i can't wait to check out some more of his work in the future. I have not seen The Conjuring 2 yet but after watching this movie, i might go and see it soon.
8.5/10 - This movie is the horror experience that the last few years have been lacking and my favorite horror movie of 2013.
Anyway that is my review for The Conjuring. If you are still here thanks for reading, if you have a different opinion leave a comment, if you agree with me leave a comment.
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PS. Film reviews are subjective, the opinions contained in this review are mine, others will have a different opinion.
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the Warrens were well-recognized paranormal investigators. I read about their experiences years ago and their accounts were fascinating --I get Hollywood turning serious investigations into a scary movie, afterall, they did that with Blatty's The Exorcist which is now being exploited as a TV horror.
They should leave "The Exorcist" alone. That movie is terrific.