The Conjuring - Movie Review

                 

The Conjuring     

Release Date in India : August 2nd 2013

Cast : Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and Ron Livingston.

Direction : James Wan ( most famous for his movie "Saw")

Music : Joseph Bishara

Cinematography : John Leonetti

              After hearing wonderful reviews of the Conjuring, I was dying to watch this movie. I finally managed to catch it last week, at a good theater. The movie starts off with an investigation by the paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine upon the case of the "Annabella" doll. Then, the director grabs your complete attention and curiosity through a single sentence - "Based on the True Story". Then, we are shown a family moving into an old farmhouse along with their five daughters. The story line about this family is quite predictable with the usual spooky and strange happenings at their house - like the dog refusing to enter inside the farmhouse, birds dying, strange noises etc.What is different in this movie though is that the director has managed to scare us quite well through the masterful handling of camera and sound, and he does not employ graphics much, and he has shown very limited blood and gore, it would have been just another horror story otherwise. The "Hide & Clap" scene is superb and deserves special mention, and scares the living hell out of you.There are many other such scenes in this movie which gives a jump.When things go out of hand, the lady of the house contacts the Paranormal investigators and brings them on-board. What happens to the lovely family; do the investigators manage to drive away the demons, why are the demons haunting this farmhouse;do the demonic spirits torment the family of the investigators too, all these questions form the rest of the story.The director has successfully made an excellent horror movie when compared to hollywood horror movies of the recent past.The acting, screenplay and direction were top notch. James Wan has given us a film that genuinely scares us, and manages to build up the tension before delivering the final thrills.The director has taken up an old story and he has presented it in a great way.The movie is a teeny weeny bit long, considering Hollywood standards.Since I had gone to watch this movie with great expectations, I felt a bit let down, after watching the complete movie.I had loved the "Saw" movie, that movie kind of re-defined horror then. Maybe I should not have expected so much, I just felt that this movie was very good, but definitely not a classic. I felt the plot in the movie was wafer thin and the final scenes were very predictable. Classic horror, for me is synonymous with "Hitchcock movies". Maybe if I had watched the movie before all the hype, I might have felt otherwise. All said and done, this movie has already become a blockbuster globally, and it is an instant crowd puller.It has already set the cash registers ringing, and I can visualize the producers laughing their way to the bank as the movie seems to have been made on a shoe string budget.  I guess it would have already broken many records for a movie of the horror genre.

What I feel 

My Rating - 7.5/10

Recommended movies of the same genre - The Shining, The Birds and REC (Spanish)

One Liners - Must Watch, Good movie with nice thrills and scares,Horror Blockbuster,Nice attempt to dish out old wine in a new bottle, could have been a classic - falls short!

What the Internet says

IMDb rating (As of today) - 7.8

Tomatometer - 86% Average Rating - 7.2/10

Hand Picked Trivia ( Source: IMDb )

• Real Life paranormal investigators "Ed and Lorraine Warren" investigated the Perron's Rhode Island farmhouse from 1973-1974. 
• Lorraine Warren and 'Andrea Perron' served as consultants to director James Wan and the screenwriters. They both claim the movie is accurate to the real story of what happened to the Perrons during the 10-years they lived in the farmhouse.
• Lili Taylor researched The Exorcist to prepare for her role. 
• This movie is the second film composer Joseph Bishara has scored for James Wan , it is also the second time he has played a demon figure for him. He has portrayed Bathsheba Sherman (The demon in this movie) and had previously played a demon in the movie "Insidious". 
• The real life Lorraine Warren appears in a cameo on this movie.The elder woman in the front row of the classroom when Carolyn is listening to the Warren's presentation.