MOVIE REVIEW: The Conjuring – Want To Play Hide And Clap?

conjuring

Director: James Wan
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor

Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are famous paranormal investigators with one of their cases being the infamous Amityville Horror. With thousands of cases under their belt, the Warrens never kept hush on a case except one, also known as  The Conjuring.

Ed and Lorraine Warren

Things don’t take long to get strange when Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) move into their new home with their five daughters. Carolyn keeps waking up with bruises, one daughter keeps getting her foot pulled on during the middle of the night and another one keeps sleep walking and banging her head against a closet. As each night passes, the occurrences get stranger and more dangerous to the Perron family but with all of their money tied to the house they have no option but to stay. Carolyn, who attends a lecture given by the Warrens, immediately asks them to come visit the house and help her family out before it’s too late.

The Warrens, who were first hesitant take on the case, immediately feel the forces that are in the house. As the danger of these demonic spirits grow each day, the Warrens must help clear the house of the spirits before the lives of Warrens are no longer in their control.

Horror films these days unfortunately lead to a disappointment and make me personally not care for them no matter how scary the trailer leads me to believe it is. But one director who seems to hit the nail on the head is James Wan, the same director who brought us Saw, Insidious and Dead SilenceWan tends to find a way to tap into our deepest and darkest fears, which makes us indeed scared. The Conjuring is another great example of James Wan’s ability to scare the audience.

This movie isn’t like most horror films. You aren’t scared by all the explicitness or the gore but more of how the viewer feels personally. The horror scenes don’t rely on shock value and cheesy gimmicks but they make the hairs on your arms stand up. This case didn’t affect one person but the entire Warren and Perron family and because you grow to care for both families as the movie progresses, mix in that this case is based on a true story, the events that occur hit you that much more.

Like I mentioned, I am not a fan of recent horror films but that is not the case for The Conjuring. I recommend going to the movies for this one and I apologize now for any future nightmares that might occur.

What The Delio?: 8/10

Quick Factoid: Besides Insidious: Chapter 2 in which James Wan has directed and will be coming out later this year, Wan will be directing Fast & Furious 7!