Wednesday 14 August 2013

Movie Review of The Conjuring

The Conjuring - 8/10
Directed by James Wan
Written by Chad and Cary Hayes
Cast - Vera Farmiga, Patrick WIlson, Lili Taylor,Ron Livingstone

Plot Summary
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

Review
Definitely my favourite horror movie in recent years. In fact The Conjuring right now is number 2 (No.1 is The Exorcist). Everything about this movie is near perfect. I got to know about this movie is through word of mouth. And it was getting a lot of positive buzz so I had to watch it. My girlfriend whom I watch movies with all the time abhors horror movie so she told me to fuck off even though I tried lying, telling her it was a family movie (which kinda is if you think about it). So there I was watching the Conjuring Saturday midnight all by my lonesome. Bought myself a packet of Twisties and M&Ms and I was ready to go.
Right at the start, the movie goes all out. From the interview scene to the hideous looking doll, the tension does not let you go. It just fucking grips you from there. And the doll is called Annabelle, if I had a daughter and I saw her carrying that doll... I would beat my daughter up. That's how the scary the doll looked. The actual doll which I looked up is a rag doll and doesn't look scary as the one in the movie.
As the story unfolds,the scares do get more scarier and I have to admit. A grown man like me did get startled on some scenes. Now the good thing about The Conjuring is that all the scare scenes do not use the now traditional way to scare you which is by increasing the volume whenever something happens suddenly which is like shock horror. What these guys did was the old school way of scaring the audience which is psychologically. It just lingers in your brain and you keep thinking about it. To me that's what a good horror movie should be.
Casting for The Conjuring was very good. All five daughters were chosen well for their frightened looks and screams. Ron Livingstone was decent as the dad. I really liked Lili taylor as the mother, her face nicely contorts to Bathesheba's face. And her acting was really good. Bathesheba is acted by the composer of the movie Joseph Bisara. For a music composer, that motherfucker looks evil and you can understand why James Wan asked him to act in this and in his previous movie Insidious as well. If you google for Bisara's picture, you will know why I said he looked evil. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson have very good chemistry with each other although I didn't quite like WIlson's acting during the exorcism scene, I still think he did a pretty decent job overall.
Direction for the movie was fantastic. You can clearly see the inspiration of 70s and 80s classic horror movies. From The Exorcist, to Amityville, to Salem's Lot and many others were pretty obvious in the Conjuring. Sound and music were perfect. Creepy and yet not too loud and the three songs featured in the movie were good and a little frightening, nothing popular or poppish sounding. The last song was played by the band, Dead Man Bones which is fronted by Ryan Gosling.
But what really made me fall in love with the Conjuring was the camera works. I was awed and truly inspired. The use of steadicam was perfect. That awesome trackshot at the beginning while the Perron family were unpacking was beautiful. All the scary shots were either handheld or steadicam and the nervous movements of the camera fitted well with the tension building in the scene. Also noteworthy was the scene where the camera goes point of view (POV) and looks under the bed and to the door. And that scene where two things were happening at the same time towards the climax. Fucking Brilliant!

The Conjuring is worth every single cent of your ticket money. It is a helluva ride and I will definitely watch it again in the cinemas and buy the blu ray when it comes out.
This my friends... is a must watch.

Best Quotes
Ed Warren: We've been called ghost hunters. Paranormal researchers. Wackos.
Lorraine Warren: But we prefer to be known simply as Ed and Lorraine Warren.

April: When the music stops, you'll see him in the mirror standing behind you.

Recommended movies done by the director
Saw
Insidious