No Frills Basic Scary Movie

Rating: 5/10 (25 August 2013)

This is a film specifically formulated to provide the fun scares without creeping you out too much. Hardly an 'R' rated film, it uses all the basic tenets to give you the chill up your spine that you came for. But not much else. I was getting a little concerned how often horror films turn to young girls for all the very adult scares. In this case there are 5 daughters to get molested by the devil. Supposedly, all the events in this film really happened. If so, it is utterly coincidental that all the trappings necessary to make a creepy horror film are provided. The rickety old house out in the creepy looking woods. The family unable to leave the house after the hauntings begin. The vulnerable young kids. The self-slamming doors. The creepy cellar. And so on.
It is entirely understandable why this was released as a summer film. The pacing and the camera-work made the film approachable to mainstream audiences perhaps looking for a amusement park attraction, the haunted house ride that has a ugly old lady with smeared makeup ready to surprise you around the corner. No different than the basic tenets a summer action film provides, "The Conjuring" has competent acting and good storytelling.
Minor Spoiler ahead
Just don't expect the obligatory extra shock at the end when the movie deceives you into thinking all is well. Or expect any greater fireworks once we get to the Exorcist vs. the Devil confrontation.
Minor Spoiler finished.
But nevertheless fulfills the necessities to get you to jump or squirm in your seat. Not a classic of the genre, but puts in the extra effort to give us the goods without making us groan.