The Conjuring

Being the cheapest and most highly profitable genre, the quality of horror films has quite noticeably deteriorated over time becoming increasingly nonsensical and clichéd with only a handful of directors recently attempting to revitalise the genre.  Quickly becoming one of the most prolific horror directors of the 21st century, James Wan is one of these creative enforcers as he returns with The Conjuring the original and supposedly true story of a sinister haunted house. Whilst it may not have the most original and exciting of premises, it certainly exerts enough passion and genuine intelligence to

make it linger with the audience long after they’ve exited the screen and make them tremble in an empty house.

Based on one of the many cases of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, this is the first to include them within the film as key characters. Initially exploring the back story behind the couple’s carer with the introduction of a sinister demonic china doll, we are soon shifted into the lives of the ‘Perron’ family through a perhaps hackneyed and patronising use of on screen text desperately persuading us to believe the films realistic legitimacy. In an orderly fashion we’re shown to a family of six as they move into a new country house only to discover that it holds darker forces. Despite the clear use of an overused formula, The Conjuring does an excellent job in introducing original material to create intelligent scares for its audience instead of the cheap ‘jump-scare’ which so many films indulge in. Such scares are present but are used sparingly and to good effect after a sufficiently built scene of tension, through this the film creates far more effective prol

onged moments of terror that linger as appose to momentary moments of fright.

Remaining however are the classic clichés of the genre, giving a heavy load to a film which would otherwise be hugely impressive. The general stupidity and unrealistic actions of each character along with the classic clichés of mirrors as well as animal noises used as jump scares ultimately put a muzzle on the film preventing it from being as scary as it should’ve been as every forthcoming scare was predictable and dull. Furthermore, as is the issue with a multitude of horror films, The Conjuring makes the mistake of showing too much when far less is far more effective. Whilst the ‘terrifying faces’ are creditably made with prosthetics (and wisely so) the more we see the ghoul and the longer the camera lingers, the more the audience becomes desensitised to its horror and it instead becomes an offbeat source of relaxing humour.

Whilst it may be riddled with horror clichés and subsequent mild stupidity, The Conjuring still proves to be hugely unsettling through its original material and also with the aid from the directorial prowess of James Wan and as well as the believable and enthusiastic performances of the whole cast. The Conjuring knew its source material extremely well and rarely went over its head and indulged in irrelevant areas, with slightly unexpected turns along the way James Wan concretes himself as a veteran of the horror genre, creating a film so unsettling and subtly terrifying it will stay with you for weeks.

8/10- An excellent formation of horror elements both old and new despite its unoriginality.

Calum Russell