The Conjuring

The Conjuring (2013)

Predicted Rating: 2.5 Stars

Directed by: James Wan (Saw). Starring: Patrick Wilson (Watchmen), Ron Livingston (Office Space)

Loosely based on a true story, The Conjuring sees a family of seven move into an old house in a small country town in Rhode Island. Increasingly suspicious bumps in the night prompt the family to call veteran paranormal investigators Ed (Wilson) and Lorraine Warren. The investigators unravel a series of tales associated with the house that will potentially lead to the downfall of the family. 

Sigh, another film that features an exorcism as a main plot device. When will the writers realise that an exorcism has lost its flair because one has been featured in almost every horror movie released recently! Well that might be a slight exaggeration but you catch my drift. The Exorcist (1973) nailed the exorcism scene perfectly creating a lasting impression in the horror genre however, many writers and directors have thought they could improve on this but have failed miserably. I am not sure whether it is because there is an exorcism scene or they are just terrible movies in general but there have been some really bad films made recently that involve exorcisms. I am talking about The Devil Inside and The Last Exorcism. Even though I know it won't happen, I would be a happy man if there was never to be another exorcism in cinema. Just acknowledge you can't better The Exorcist and leave it at that people!

Even though the film is superbly directed (I will discuss this later), it does suffer from some writing flaws. The ending was somewhat a let down after there was a terrific build up of suspense. I thought of what I think is a terrific ending where the camera pans into the case that once housed the doll now houses the Warren's daughter. However, the movie sort of just rolled into the credits. I was maybe hoping for more of an involvement from the doll and the daughter as they seemed to be billed as significant plot devices but really didn't do much. I was also hoping for more of a focus on the daughters of the family. As someone who has delved into the world of paranormal investigation, a significant number of hauntings and possessions are centred around teenage girls. This has been mainly associated with changing hormones from hitting puberty but it would have been good if the movie explored this phenomenon.

As I mentioned before, The Conjuring is fantastically directed. James Wan is the master of using camera angles, lighting and sound to create a huge amount of tension. He then might throw in a jump out of your seat scare or create a false fright that builds even more suspense for the next fright. I think he did a better job of this in Insidious as I was far more scared in that than in The Conjuring. However, that is not to say the Conjuring isn't scary.

Oh I almost forgot, there was one more thing that really annoyed me about this film that is replicated in almost every film, not just in horror films. The best parts are in the trailer! The clap game was a fantastic idea but was essentially shown in full in the trailer and when it appeared in the film it lost it's magic. I would have much preferred to see it for the first time on the big screen. The same thing goes for a lot of comedies where the funniest lines are said in the trailer without any context. I think all movies should take a leaf out of the Paranormal Activity book where what is in the trailer essentially explains what the movie is but doesn't actually show any of the movie.

Final Rating: A fairly scary movie that fails to learn from the lessons of previous under-performing horror films 2.5 Stars.