“The Conjuring” is a conflicting film that’s been haunting me.
On the one hand, director James Wan (“Saw”) has crafted a highly effective film that accomplishes what a horror movie should; it will scare the hell out of you. Most of the creepy moments are expertly paced and I will admit that I closed my eyes more than a couple times to avoid the jolts and shocks. I am a wimp.
On the other hand, you have seen this movie before. Lots of times. “The Conjuring” is “Poltergeist” meets “The Amityville Horror” meets “The Exorcist” with a little bit of Wan’s own “Insidious” sprinkled into the brew. While the individual bits and chunks work and entertain the entire project is too familiar to allow for wholehearted praise.
The film tells the true story of the Harrisville haunting. Supposedly. I do wish the story were nothing but facts, all of it, and if you are a believer of the unknown this ride will be all the more satisfying. In the early 70s the Perron family moved the Rhode Island countryside into a large, old farmhouse with a terrible past. Almost immediately unexplainable occurrences begin as doors open and close on their own and unseen forces tug at the children’s feet as they lie sleeping. Both the parents, Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston), remain skeptics for a very short time and they soon believe that there five little girls are, indeed, in danger.
They enlist the services of Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) Warren, renowned paranormal investigators, to come and help them fight the forces of evil that live within the walls and halls of their home. The Warrens discover the horrifying history of the Harrisville home and try to stop the past from repeating itself. Devils and demons live in that house and they crave the taste of children’s blood. Supposedly.
Wan is really growing into a master of pace and staging. Here he has abandoned quick cuts and shallow field of focus he used in his early films (“Saw” was a 90 minute Music Video) and keeps with a slow and deliberate tone that truly feels like a horror film from the era in which the story takes place. “The Conjuring” could have been released in 1974. There are long sessions of scary throughout and the dread is relentless. Things get a touch silly at the end and the movie does not end as strongly as it begins.
The actors are all game for the fright fest. Vera Farmiga is solid as Lorraine and plays the tortured elements of the character nicely. It must be tough going through life seeing dead witches hanging from trees when no one else can. Patrick Wilson comes across as stiff and unnatural for some reason. Lili Taylor plays the fear like a pro. As for Ron Livingston… he is, as always, Ron Livingston doing that Ron Livingston thing.
While “The Conjuring” may not be completely original (is anything anymore?) seek this one out. See it with someone you can claw at and grope. The regurgitated aspects merely keep “The Conjuring” from being an instantly classic example of the Genre.