(2013) [Trailer]
Director: James Wan [IMDB]
I desperately wanted to dig into this film after initially seeing the trailer. I loved James Wan's last movie, Insidious, and was curious to see his follow up. My friend Doug (and everyone else) was really hyping this up, he loved it so much he went to see it again with me tonight. So here it is... my review.
Synopsis: Based off a true story, husband and wife demon hunters are dispatched to a house in rural Rhode Island to help a family of 7 battle evil spirits.
This is by far one of the scariest films I've sat through in recent memory... which is a good thing. If you're into the horror genre, this is a must see. The Conjuring takes the supernatural subgenre and plays within it perfectly. Movies like The Exorcist and The Shining are easy comparisons, but for good reason because The Conjuring holds its own with those titles. I felt there was nothing cheesy about the film ... it's well crafted, paced perfectly, and terrifying. Doug had mentioned before going into it that the acting was the best he had seen in a horror movie... and he's right... it's up there. Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, and Lili Taylor are all excellent, it was also awesome to see Peter from Office Space... I love that guy.
The technical elements of the film were also a huge plus. The cinematography was on point and the sound design was eerie as hell. There's one frame that stuck with me of a young girl standing at the top a staircase... it was something straight out a Kubrick joint. The fact that everything, including the wall paper in the staircase scene, is set in the early 70's also gave the film a nice breath of uniqueness.
I'm trying to think of something negative to say about The Conjuring and honestly I can't. The ending is a little happy, I guess that's bad... or good... I don't know. It doesn't matter... go see the damn thing.
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