A look at James Wan and his modern horror masterpiece.

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2014)

James Wan is among the most influential horror directors in recent. His smash hit "Saw", a film which I am a large fan of, lead to the most successful horror franchise of the 2000's and the increasingly violent and disturbing nature of the films sequels caused the popularisation of the "Torture porn" subgenre. Wan has also reaped significant success with his recently popular "Insidious" series. So why is Wan successful and why do I like him so much?
Wan is a director who understands the secret to suspense, the unknown and the fear it creates. By keeping key details shrouded in shadow, and keeping the audience in the dark as to what's going to happen, Wan is able to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. This is helped also by Wan's talent for creating likable and identifiable characters, this makes the audience care all the more about what is going to happen next. This is used to great effect in "The Conjuring". Relatively large cast of characters are all surprisingly realistic and memorable, seeming real enough to warrant the audiences interest and sympathy. The nature of the supernatural elements are also kept largely in shadow for the majority of the film, keeping the audience constantly nervous and more susceptible to the films fantastically chilling atmosphere.
Wan also keeps his premises simple, but nuanced and detailed at the same time. "The Conjuring", at surface level, is a simple haunted house story. However the smaller details, such as the complex character relationships and strong character development, makes this concept feel fresh.
The film looks great too. The cinematography is great and takes full advantage of the tight environment and period setting to get some brilliant angles. The period of the 70's is perfectly brought to life through the soundtrack, costumes and colour palette, which immediately invokes films such as "Amityville Horror". Despite the isolated setting, the film dares to make use of other locations at times to add to the scale of the conflict and to keep latter parts of the film visually engaging. In particular the grounds surrounding the house are responsible for some truly memorable images and every moment spent there drips with mood and a chilling atmosphere.
The film succeeds in being very scary also, without having to resort to cheap jump scares. The film is brave and effective enough to simply allow the tension, atmosphere and characters to drive the scary moments, there is no artificiality here.
In conclusion, aside from "Saw" this stands as my favourite Wan film to date and my favourite horror film of the last few years. "The Conjuring" manages to feel classic and fully realised, whilst still being fresh and filled with personality. Wan is ahead of the game by a country mile.