The Conjuring

Movie:  The Conjuring
Major Actors: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston
Rating: R
Best Audience: Adults who exhibit bladder control

Review:

There is a lot to say about this movie.  First things first, I did not expect to see it on opening weekend.  I was going to see RIPD with my Movie Buddy and someone got the time wrong (not pointing fingers...).  So I had thought about seeing the Conjuring eventually; plus it was the only thing playing at that time.  I had only seen some teaser trailers for it, so did not know what to expect.

Director James Wan has scared me to death in the past with Saw, Dead Silence, and Insidious.  His latest movie, "The Conjuring" is a clear attempt to bring to horror movie genre back its golden age:  the 70's.  This is not for the mere fact that the film is set in the 70's.  It is also the style and feel of the movie.

Ed and Lorraine Warren were paranormal investigators, best known for investigating the Amityville Horror.  This is how Wan is able to show off the coveted phrase "Based on a True Story."  This phrase is thrown around far too casually in horror movies.  I think it is because a horror movie will do a better job at scaring you if you believe it could actually happen.  The movie is based on a couple of the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren.  Ed Warren (played by Patrick Wilson, who was also in Insidious) was a demonologist, that looked at these paranormal cases with a Christian point of view.  Lorraine Warren (played by Vera Farmiga, who currently stars in Bates Motel) was a trance medium. 

I believe as a horror film, this movie does have a lot of originality.  Oh, I know....you have seen a lot of the plot before:  "A family moves into an old home and weird things start happening."  There is so much more to it than that.  First of all, the movie follows two families:  the family being tortured by the strange occurences, as well as the Warren family.  Second of all, the movie also contains a couple other of the Warren's cases.  I believe it is original, not because it presents something new...but because it combines so many elements.  This film has witches, ghosts, demons, and human killers.  Usually a horror movie only has one of those.  I mean, it even has an evil doll!

The fright is real.  It was exhausting, actually.  The thrills just come one after another.  I actually felt physically exhausted from the sheer terror I was experiencing.  Hands down, this was the scariest movie I've ever seen in my life.  People in the theatre weren't just screaming, they were shreiking. 

I kind of want to see it again because I had to cover my eyes on a lot of parts.  So now I want to see the parts I was too chicken to experience the first time.