The Conjuring (2013) - MOVIE REVIEW! ver.2

The Conjuring follows the Perron Family (consisting of Carolyn, Roger, and their five daughters) who have just moved into a new house. The family quickly realizes that something inhuman and insidious is present in the house after numerous unexplainable paranormal occurrences. After a night on which Carolyn gets trapped in the basement and their eldest daughter is attacked in her room, Carolyn decides to get help from Ed and Lorraine Warren, a demon/ghost hunting power couple. The Warrens start their investigation but when the haunting starts to affect their own family they have to fight harder than they ever have before.

*clap, clap*

Did I scare you? No? Well it works better with video reviews, oh well. The Conjuring is a haunted house movie directed by horror-genius and puppeteer, James Wan. The film stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Varmiga as the real life demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren. It also features Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston as the parents of the Perron family. 

When I first saw The Conjuring I enjoyed it a lot and after re-watching it, I was once again completely taken aback! It doesn't happen a lot that a horror film can still entertain and scare me the second time I watch it the way this did. This proves to me that The Conjuring truly could go down as a great haunted house movie.

I've heard a lot of people criticize The Conjuring because they say it "doesn't bring anything new the genre." Really? Just because a movie is similar to others, it doesn't mean that it's not innovative or "new." James Wan told a story that has been told before, but still managed to make it his own. That is what makes The Conjuring so interesting and fun to watch.

Although there are some jump scares throughout, it's not what the film relies on to actually scare you. No, the truly scary scenes are scary thanks to more atmospheric things like other characters' performances and James Wan's incredible ability to make it feel like you're the character experiencing what's happening. One way he accomplishes this, is by only showing what the characters see, when they see it. A good example of this is the scene in which Roger is walking through the house at night and the camera only pans to where he looks.     

I want to congratulate Wan on this film. There are so many little things he added that make the movie so great. One being the way he made several scenes look like they came straight from a 70's classic. The movie is also filled with really interesting POV and spinning shots that make you feel like you're in the film.

Wan also did a fantastic job with the scary scenes. One scene in particular (where one girl sees someone is standing by her doorway while her sister doesn't see anyone) really frightened me. It was done extremely well, without even showing anything. Wan also used the "hide and clap" game the girls play in a very creepy and effective way to further the story.

One of my favorite scenes.

However, The Conjuring is far from perfect, one of the biggest gripes I have with the film is that there are way to many characters in the Perron family. Because there are so many people, it's extremely hard to properly develop all of them. This led to me not really caring about some of the daughters (I cant even remember most of their names.)

Another thing that bothered me was the ghost make-up. While Bathesheba was done pretty well, the other spirits looked very cheap (much like the ghosts from Insidious.) Throughout the film there were also some cheesy voice over effects that didn't fit in with the atmosphere at all, but in the end this wasn't enough to actually take away from the film's overall experience.  
  

Ohh, Bathesheba, baby, why you so cute, beau?

All in all I think The Conjuring is a really well made and actually scary horror film. While it does fall a bit short with the character development and make up effects, it makes up for it with a fantastic story and great cinematography. The film did end a bit abruptly, but the final act is still a very entertaining spectacle that reaches a gratifying climax.

With a sequel and a prequel coming up, I am very excited to see where the series is going, I just wish James Wan would reprise his roll as director because clearly he knows what he's doing... 

Rating 7/10

This is part of the Final Girl Movie Club! Check it out! (http://finalgirl.blogspot.com/)
A few months back I wrote another review for this but decided to re-write it. Check out the original here!

Insisious 3 will still be a thing! (without James Wan)

Even more news has recently come out concerning Insidious! On Monday Entertainment One, FilmDistrict and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions have said that they are already planning on making a third Insidious installment!

If  you have not yet heard the Director of the first two Insidious films has recently announced that he will be taking a break from directing horror (read the whole story here!)  They have not released who they want to direct Insidious Chapter 3 but they have said it will be produced by the same company and that Leigh Whannell will be reprising his role as the screenwriter.

Tell me, how do you feel about this. Do you think that it will still be good without Wan or what?

Read the full story here!

Could James Wan have brought back Horror? And Jack Black in Goosebumps?!

The box office ratings for the weekend have been released and guess what, Insidisious: Chapter 2 ranked at number 1,  making $41 million in it's opening weekend! Almost triple the amount The Family (starring Robert De Niro) made.  

But, sadly James Wan has recently announced that he is going to "take a break" from making horror films. I just feel as though with all his success with the Conjuring and Insidious he might have been able to bring Horror back to it's former glory!

Hopefully there will be more great horrors coming this year that may reignite the flame that is horror. Carrie's looking promising, right?

In other Horror news, or should I  say scary-kids-movie news, Sony has announced that they're planning to make a new Goosebumps inspired film, starring Jack Black!

The film is also said to be directed by Rob Letterman (Monster vs Aliens, Shark Tale, Gulliver's Travels). It's pretty obvious that is going to be a scary movie for very young kids, something that seems to becoming more and more popular with films like Paranorman, Frankenweenie and Hotel Transylvania coming out. However, I have not been able to find out whether or not their are planning on making this an animation.

Tell me, are you guys exited to see this beloved book series come to the big screen or do you think this will be a failed attempt at exploiting nostalgia? And how do you feel about Insidious doing so good, is horror going to have a comeback?

Read the full story on Insidious here! And about Jack Black and Goosebumps here!

James Wan: Retiring from Horror?

Yeah, so apparently James Wan (director of The Conjuring, Insidious and Insidious Chapter 2) is finished making horror movies. So, if your at all like me your thinking, "why in the hell would he do this?" Well, this is his reason, "I spent the last 10 years of my life doing this. It's time for a change, for goodness sake."


Ok hold up, you're saying that over the past ten years you've worked on six horror movies and now you "...go on record and say I am finished with the horror genre. Conjuring and Insidious 2 are my two last scary movies." Isn't that just a bit hasty? I know he's in his middle thirties but to completely write off the horror genre, forever?

I don't care what he says, hopefully we will still get a few more scary flicks from Wan in the future. What do you guys think of this, is he speaking out of his ass or do you agree with his decision? Tell me below!

Read the full article here!
My review for the Conjuring here!

The Conjuring (2013) Review - Insomniac's Cinema

The Conjuring (2013) Review by Insomniac's Cinema

Rating: 78/100

*clap clap*


Did I scare you? No? Well, it works better in  video reviews... Anyway, The Conjuring  is yet another haunted house movie directed by James Wan. Patrick Wilson and Vera Varmiga star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, two demonologists who help families all  around America get rid on the demons haunting them. The film is marketed as "based on a true story" but since this can get slapped on almost any movie these days I  did some research to find out how true this statement was. I was surprised to find that Ed and Lorraine Warren were actual demonologists who were active during the middle to late 1900's (They were some of the first people to investigate The Amitiville Horror house!) I also found out that the Perrons are also based on a real family that was supposedly "haunted."



The Conjuring follows the Perron family (Carolyn, Roger and their five daughters) during 1971 when they are busy moving into a new house. From the first day strange things start to happen (like all the clocks in the house stopping at 3:07 am.) After a night on which Carolyn gets trapped in the basement and their eldest daughter gets attacked by a supernatural being, they decide to contact the Warrens. At first Ed is unsure about taking the case but does give his consent after Lorraine speaks to him. The Warrens then start their investigation but things go farther than they ever anticipated when the haunting starts to affect the Warrens' daughter as well. Now Ed and Lorraine have to fight harder than they ever have to try and save both the families...

Left: The Real Annabelle. Right: Ed and Lorraine Warren

I thought everyone (even the young girls!) did a well enough job acting wise I just wish that the were less of them. I understand that the real Perrons did have five girls in their family, but the problem is that it's almost impossible for the seven Perrons and the two Warrens to be well developed in a two hour long movie. In the end I thought that only Ed, Lorraine and Carolyn were developed at all...

Patrick Wilson and Vera Varmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren

The same can be said for the demons haunting the Perrons. I know there is one "main" demon, but there are also at least three other ghosts whose stories get cut short or are completely ignored (kind of like all the ghosts in American Horror Story if you know what I mean) Another big problem I had with the demons were that they weren't scary enough (how many times have we seen the dirty, crazy lady in a nightgown or a pale boy in Amish clothes, amirite?) I mean the only thing that gave me a fright was the jump scare in the trailer... If they had kept her appearance hidden longer I think it would've at least made her seem scarier


The director has said that he "modeled the film's cinematography and atmosphere after vintage 1970's horror films" and while I do think this is evident in some fantastic shots I also think it felt a bit forced in other scenes (it's pretty far out, yeah it's groooovy!)  He did however add some really creepy stuff like the whole "hide and clap" game. The part of the movie in which Ed and Lorraine investigate the house was really interesting, I just wish we could see more before the shit hits the fan. Speaking of that, I was kinda dissapointed with the end of the movie, it felt very abrupt and to me it seemed like not all the loose ends were tied up properly. It was however one of the more creepier scenes in the movie...


 
The Conjuring Final Verdict:

So, to sum up The Conjuring is an interesting haunted house movie which told a creepy story but wasn't extremely scary. It was done well even though it didn't bring anything new to the table. I enjoyed it very much but I don't think it's as fantastic as some people are saying. After watching this I am thoroughly exited for Insidious (and even the Curse Of Chucky, thanks to you Annabelle!) 

Rating: 78/100 (Great!)