Craft an old-school spooky tale before descending into CGI nonsense

Rating: 6/10 (23 October 2016)

I doubt anyone could foresee the success of James Wan's The Conjuring, which, on the surface at least, looks no more remarkable than any of the gore-soaked horror bilge than swills into our cinemas every year. Released in the summer - a season hardly known for horror smash-hits - it proved that audience's desire to be scared lasts the whole year round, raking in the cash on the back of a moderate $20 million budget. It also managed to attract admiration from many critics, who found it both well-made and genuinely scary, harking back to an era when top directors took an interest in the genre and did wonders with it.
The film focuses on the Perron family, consisting of loving mother Carolyn (Lili Taylor), hard-working father Roger (Ron Livingston), and their five daughters, who re-locate to a dilapidated rural home in Rhode Island. While they settle quickly, it soon becomes apparent that there are other forces at work, and this supernatural presence isn't at all happy at the Perrons being in its home. Following a series of inexplicable events, Carolyn calls in paranormal investigators Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and his clairvoyant wife Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) for help, who quickly make up their mind that this is the most p****d-off haunting they have ever witnessed.
Long before the likes of Most Haunted graced out TV screens, Ed and Lorraine Warren were the real celebrity ghost hunters, investigating almost every famous case of so-called demonic possession you can think of, from Amityville to the Enfield poltergeist. Many of their investigations took place in the 1970's, and Wan gives the film a very 70's aesthetic, complete with a calm, moving camera and slow zooms. 1979's The Amityville Horror is a definite influence, and there are certain moments which will bring the likes of Don't Look Now (1973) and The Omen (1976) to mind also. While The Conjuring doesn't bring anything new to the table for seasoned horror buffs, it's nice to be reminded of a time when frights were delivered by expert hands, and the genre was alive with innovation.
Yet while Wan's film certainly does have its moments - a camera swirl from underneath the bed to the dark corner of a bedroom is particularly memorable - it falls victim to many of the tropes that plague modern horror movies. There's the occasional reliance on a jump scare to try and keep the audience engaged, and a climax that quickly descends into CGI nonsense complete with the obligatory exorcism scene. It's rather sad, as there is a good a cast delivering strong performances and a director who certainly knows what he's doing at play here, taking the time to craft an old- fashioned spooky tale without the need for gore or sex before the ending washes away all the good work. Still, it's refreshingly old- school, which is surprising when you think that this is from the guy who kick-started the Saw franchise.