Old-fashioned spine- chiller

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2015)

These days it is harder to find a good horror movie than be a presidential candidate. The amount of sheer dross is staggering. "The Conjuring" is really an old-fashioned ghost/possession spine-chiller. There is an innocent family and not so innocent house in, of course, New England (where else?). Peaceful countryside, rickety old house with appropriate noises, and the vengeful former inhabitants. And all of this could have so easily slipped into the bad symphony of clichés, but for a steady hand of a smart movie director named James Wan. With a right amount of old, reliable tricks, but put together with fresh hands, it gives a jolly good scare. The only blemish is ever so sweetened ending in an old moronic Hollywood tradition. God forbid something doesn't get neatly wrapped up. That would be the end of the silly world we know.