Conjures up a LOT of terror...

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2015)

The Conjuring is one HELL of a horror film. It grips you from the opening minutes, and doesn't let go till the end. It provides the viewer with a typical set-up of a family moving to a haunted house, before proceeding to frighten the wits out of them (and us, by extension). It manages to shove aside the standard 'bump in the night' cliché that's present in so many recent entries in the genre redundant, and sticks us in a nail-biting atmosphere where we literally have NO IDEA what's coming next.
Most of all, the people in it aren't just targets to be dragged around by their hair ,have objects tossed at them or possessed by EVIL SPIRITS (though all that happens, too). These are children acting like children, parents who would do anything to protect their kids and a pair of devoted paranormal investigators that have so much depth and personality they utterly obliterate the 'comedy' ghost hunters from movies like Insidious. In other words, WE CARE. Believe it or not, this is more difficult than it sounds.
For once, the human element is as important as the shocks, and all the participants are well drawn and two dimensional characters we want to survive this living nightmare. As for, lets face it, what EVERYONE came for (the supernatural angle) it starts off slow, with a few odd occurrences... Mysterious bruises discovered on the mother in the morning... One of the daughters sleep walking at night repeatedly into a closed wardrobe... And then things REALLY start to pick up around the time the dog (Who refused to enter the property, with good reason) is discovered mutilated on the front porch. OUCH.
See this film. ENCOURAGE GOOD HORROR MOVIE PRODUCTION, since it's a genre so difficult to get right. Oh, and you DO discover a shut-off, boarded-up secret room in your new home... best leave it alone... It's most likely that way for a REASON. 7/10