The Conjuring

The Conjuring (2013)


86% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 157 reviews)


Runtime: 112 minutes


Directed by: James Wan


Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston


From: Warner Brothers/New Line Cinema


Finally, last night I went and saw this movie, heavily praised by both the hardcore horror fans and the more causal fans of scares on the big screen. I wish I could have seen it with a better crowd; sure, most of the larger than expected audience was fine, but you had such stupidity as some yappers, people using their “dumbphones” (if you use it during a theatrical movie, it should be a dumbphone, as it's named after you!) and even my first case of “Narrating Grandparents”, to borrow a phrase from a podcast I listen to. Early on you see the main family move into the house where all the S goes down. They have a dog and it won't go into the house as it senses something wrong. This is made as clear as crystal by the movie and yet you have one old person loudly tell their old spouse, “The dog won't go in the house!” Well, no shit! Thanks for telling multiple people of this obvious fact, you jackass! No wonder I am not a people person. But despite that sort of atmosphere I really did enjoy the movie; it'll guaranteed be on my Top 10 list of best movies of 2013, I'll spoil that for you.


The plot, taken from the IMDb: “In 1971, Carolyn and Roger Parren move their family into a dilapidated Rhode Island farm house and soon strange things start happening around it with escalating nightmarish terror. In desperation, Carolyn contacts the noted paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to examine the house. What the Warrens discover is a whole area steeped in a satanic haunting that is now targeting the Parren family wherever they go. To stop this evil, the Warrens will have to call upon all their skills and spiritual strength to defeat this spectral menace at its source that threatens to destroy everyone involved.”


Yeah, this is based on a true story... or rather, there really is a husband and wife team of paranormal investigators known as Ed and Lorraine Warren, and they did investigate something at the Parren house in Rhode Island. I have heard nothing about the case aside from the movie, so that has no factor in my opinion. I heard mixed things about the Warrens; one person described them as “charlatans”. I just viewed it as a fictional tale in order to make things easier overall.


I say that this is a great horror film and quality when viewed vs. something in any genre. Besides it being set in the 70's, it is a 70's style horror movie and I am glad it did well at the box office as an original R-rated film rather than a remake or a sequel... really, the movie is PG-13 but for some reason it got an R. I don't remember any foul language and there's hardly any gore. It's just a really scary and creepy film. They did a great job with the scares and building up to them. It's not one of those gore-fests or something that blindy throws out jump scares all the time and yet never builds up any dread or suspense and they're just useless and cheap. This movie is great at building dread and suspense as you follow both the Warren's and their life and the Parren parents and five daughters.


All the performances are at least fine and usually are better than that, from the adults and the kids. None of the children were tiresome or annoying, which can be tough to do in the movie-world. Like I said the scares are done really well and there's tension and dread throughout. The cinematography and the various camera angles used... all quality and pretty good. So is the music, which works well with what you see on screen. This comes together to form a movie that is as good as you've probably heard. I am glad I got to see it on the big screen, distractions aside.



I'll be back Tuesday night.