Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Conjuring (DVD + UltraViolet)



Rated R for being scary! How rare is that?
James Wan is a horror director that might have finally peaked with this one. His first SAW film was the best of the bunch and while Insidious had flaws, it also had some great scare moments and visuals. The Conjuring is a near perfect ghost/demonic possession movie. The scares are not cheap and they are 90% effective. A couple felt a little forced, but overall this is one the creepiest movies I have seen in theaters.

Based on a "true story" that takes place in 1971, a family becomes the victim of some evil forces in their new house. Two paranormal investigators are brought in to gather evidence. They are based on the famous couple that also investigated The Amityville Horror years later.

The acting is great all around from the kids and adults. I like how they didn't use any big name actors. Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and Ron Livingston are relatively well known, but thankfully no huge star power here to completely take you out of the film.

Very...

The Most Effective Cinematic Haunt of this Generation
Gut wrenching, beautifully filmed and perfectly paced, THE CONJURING isn't just one of the best supernatural chillers of recent years - it truly deserves a place next to "The Exorcist," "The Innocents" and "Poltergeist" as one of the more memorable cinematic excursions into the paranormal ever produced. That may sound like high praise, but walking out of director James Wan's stunning thriller, I was hard pressed to think of other horror movies that have captivated me from start to end as much as this one did.

Chad and Carey Hayes' screenplay takes the true story of a Rhode Island family's haunting in the early `70s and embellishes it into a film that grips you from its earliest frames, while Wan - the director who single-handedly launched a decades worth of gory "torture porn" pictures with the original "Saw" - here demonstrates a far greater command of the screen with what many have already called a directorial tour de force. In fact, Wan utilizes a documentary-styled...

A nice, suitably spooky movie
Before I get started on this review, I want everyone to ignore that infamous little phrase that gets attached to films like this. You know which one I'm talking about: "Based on a true story." I could go on about the trustworthyness of the Warrens or the lack thereof, but the best thing to do with this film is to ignore all of that. If you go into this with the idea that the Warrens are shameless hucksters, then you'll miss out on enjoying all that this film has to offer. If you go into this thinking that every frame is true or trying to explain to someone how all of this could've happened, you'll suffer the same fate. Just enjoy this for what it is: one of the first mainstream horror films released to the theaters in the summer in a long while.

Now on to the proper review.

I was thoroughly impressed by this movie. Supposedly this did insanely well when they ran this through test screenings and I can see why. The Conjuring had a lot to offer and didn't try to...

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