| The Conjuring (2013) |
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| Director: | James Wan |
| Writers: | Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes |
| Starring: | Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, and Ron Livingston |
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The Plot: Our film begins in 1971 and follows the young couple Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn (Lili Taylor) who move into a new home with their five daughters. The home is a large countryhouse that seems to fit their every need. Everything seems perfect until Carolyn awakens with strange bruises on her body, and shortly thereafter they find their pet dog dead in the yard. This turns out to only be the beginning of their problems. Soon enough, various supernatural events turn their new home into a living nightmare. All clocks within the house stop at the exact same time, and pretty soon clapping and giggling can be heard throughout every room. The children begin to see demonic creatures, and all inhabitants are living in eternal fear. Eventually Carolyn reaches out to paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Lili Taylor), who hesitantly take on their case. Expecting to find noisy pipes or a drafty home, they instead stumble upon one of the clearest cases of demonic activity that they have ever come across. As Ed and Lorraine try to appeal to the Catholic church in order to clear an exorcism, they must try and protect Roger and Carolyn’s family from these demonic beings that have latched onto their family. |
| The Review |
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If there is a problem though, it comes from the sequences where Wan reveals a bit too much for the camera. In one of the creepiest moments in the movie, a “ghost” is revealed in a very awkward position and physically jumps at one of the protagonists. Up until the “reveal,” this sequence was being led to a very startling crescendo. The film develops the idea that something creepy is happening with a particular dresser within the film, but it remains vague all the way up until this one scene. Then, when this particular “ghost” is revealed, everything starts to seem cartoonish. What separates this ghostly apparition from a generic slasher villain? The audience had been terrified up until this reveal, and while this initial jump scare may put them in a manic state, once it wears off, the audience feels as if they are back to square one. Some of the mystique evaporates, but Wan does do his best to keep the movie consistent in its level of terror. Indeed, its hard to blame the director when he has made such an honest-to-goodness scary movie, but as a critic, I can only pine for the 5-star classic that this movie almost was.
| The Conclusion |
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