Scared me so bad a lil bit of pee came out

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2014)

Somebody once told me that director James Wan apparently doesn't like doing horror movies, and he's just stuck in that genre. Why then does it seem like he had so much fun making The Conjuring, one of the more terrifying, blood curdling, and heart pounding horror flicks I've seen in a long, long time? I feel like the dude must enjoy the genre to some extent, or else he wouldn't be so great at delivering the scares, because The Conjuring delivers.
The Conjuring is based on the true story of the Perron family, a family of seven that decided to move into the most haunted house they possibly could. a multitude of ghosts and demonic forces terrorize this poor family in their quaint country home, to the point where they have to call in paranormal experts, or demonologists as they're self-titled, Ed and Lorraine Warren, a real life couple who investigated hundreds of hauntings in their day, including the much more well known Amityville horror house in Long Island. The Conjuring tells a lesser known Warren tale, but its a haunting that honestly puts Amityville to shame.
When it comes down to it there is only one thing you should ever ask of a horror film. You want it to scare you. Above all else you want it to chill you to the bone and just scare the hell out of you. Well, congratulations The Conjuring, you scared the ever loving crap out of me. The film starts out creepy from the get-go when we learn the story of Annabelle the doll, a creepy looking doll possessed by a demonic spirit.
Then we meet the Perron's and their incredibly haunted home full of deviously manipulative demons. It's no secret to the audience that this house is haunted, so James Wan makes sure to play up the devilish foreshadowing and the heart thumping moments of tension building so well that I could barely sit still during those slow quiet zooms into dark corners or ominous stairwells.
Then things kick off and it's just terrifying. The early scares are very well placed and very well timed, putting no minds at ease and keeping the audience anxiously awaiting the next fright. The first two acts provide some really chilling scares, and I even had to laugh at certain points about how good of a job this film was doing at scaring the daylights out of me. Then the third act just becomes all sorts of intense, but still not without it's share of great moments that sent chills all the way up my spine.
The Conjuring scared me, so despite any of its shortcomings I have to peg this film as a huge success because it did what it came to do. The dialogue is a little sophomoric at times, and there's an obnoxious amount of expository conversation, especially when the Warren's open their mouths to start explaining ghosts, demons, and the like. Some of the acting leaves a little to be desired. There are a couple of supporting actors who don't need to show their face in a Hollywood film again until they've taken a couple more acting classes. But some of the larger roles are actually played very well. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga make a great Ed and Lorraine Warren, and watching their own story unfold parallel to the Perron's gives The Conjuring a bit more depth.
It's definitely a movie that follows the haunted house structure to a T, but it is more successful with this structure than most. Stylistically it's a nice breath of fresh air, as James Wan decided to go with a vintage 70's horror style since the film itself is set in 1973. This added a little bit more life to The Conjuring, even if the classic and modern styles step on each others toes at times. The Conjuring honestly does all of the things it is supposed to. It falls short in some areas, but from a strictly horror standpoint the film rarely, if ever, slips up. I'm no horror expert, but I know what scares me and The Conjuring? Yeah, I was terrified.