From the director of Saw and Insidious comes a clichéd popcorn horror that stitches together gruesome ideas and images from some of the most iconic films in the genre. Yet, aside from this being a self-indulgent love letter to 1970’s horror, The Conjuring is still a surprisingly entertaining spook fest that will have you checking under your bed and sleeping with the lights on.
The Conjuring follows Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), a husband and wife duo of paranormal investigators, who travel America documenting supernatural phenomenon and providing consultations to those who believe they are being haunted by spirits from beyond the realms of humanity.
The pair are sought out by Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor) who, along with their five daughters have been terrorized by bumps in the night, ghostly apparitions and other strange goings on ever since moving into their rickety old Rhode Island house. As the pair work to rid the family of their demons, the haunting grows increasingly intense and the Warrens find themselves facing their most troublesome challenge yet.
The film also claims to be based on “true events.” Bookended by quotes and photographs from the actual Warren investigators, credit is due to the director for going that extra mile in order to entice the audience into believing right from the outset. In fact, this story in particular was considered to be so terrifying by the Warrens, that it is only coming to light now.
Skeptics will automatically reject any debate that the events depicted on screen are indeed real, but that doesn’t mean that the film can’t be terrifying to the non-believer.
The film reeks of old meat, namely taking cuts from The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist and The Exorcist. It’s like being in one of those fairground haunted houses where all of your worst nightmares come together in order to scare the living hell out of you.
For the hardcore genre fanatic, The Conjuring won’t leave a lasting impression – with what’s happening on screen being nothing more than a two hour long game of horror movie bingo – however, director James Wan succeeds where other imitators have failed and somehow makes it work.
When you consider how many other films have tried to replicate the success of the masters of horror, The Conjuring stands tall as perhaps one of the better throwbacks.
James Wan adopts many of the cinematic techniques of his idols, particularly in the special effects department. Instead of relying on CGI, he makes the most out of using fishing wire and make-up in order for his ghouls to achieve that possessed, undead look.
Wan’s nail-biting suspenseful build ups throughout the film leads to plenty of shocks that’ll have you jumping out of your seat and spilling popcorn all over your neighbour.
That’s what makes The Conjuring such a fun film; It’s able to reuse classic scare tactics from the 1970’s against a 21st-century audience and prove that sometimes the old ways are still the spookiest.
By Leigh Forgie
The Conjuring is directed by James Wan and star Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Lili Taylor.
It is showing at Movie House cinemas from Friday
