James Wan's new horror 'The Conjuring' is a fabulous homage to all the great paranormal and occult horrors that have gone before it.

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2013)

Granted, The Conjuring doesn't bring anything radically new or inspiring to the genre, but Wan's style, pace and cinematography definitely keep you on the edge of your seat throughout, and collective gasps from fellow cinema goers, plentiful. I especially enjoyed techniques employed by Wan, such as is used when the team first enter demon HQ (the basement) and our view switches to one of their own 70's styled cameras, being used to record 'the evidence'. Again, nothing new, but expertly delivered by Wan none the less, and helping greatly towards the rising tension of the scene. In-fact, the entire wardrobe and setting of the movie gives a masterful feel of the 70's era depicted.
For me the film got a lot more engrossing as it approached its mid- point, when its two sets of main characters first meet. This being the Perron family who are living in the old country haunted house and the victims of the demon, and the demonoloigst couple Ed and Lorraine Warren who have come to their aid. Again, I've seen this set-up before, but, it's a set-up that works and one I quite enjoy seeing. The films does however,despite the mid-point pick up, manage to keep the pace going from beginning to end with a bucket load of jump out of your seat moments, some of which really did make me jump up and almost out of my seat. Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren, really can display some intense facial expressions you would want, and expect, from a haunted psychic being scared the living sh#t out of.
When I use the word homage, in my sub-title above, I'm referring to the staples of any of the great paranormal movies that are used in The Conjuring; rancid smells, bumps in the night, demons, possession, out of control birds and evil looking girls with long, greasy black hair. One such staple that was explored with slightly more depth in The Conjuring, and that I particularly enjoyed the familiar presence of, was the power of three; sinister events that tend to unfold, at least in the beginning, at around 3am, the demon always knocks three times on a door or wall, etc.. Patrick Wilson's character, based on true life demonologist Ed Warren, offers an insightful reason behind all of this, in that the Satanic demon/witch they are dealing with, likes to mock The Holy Trinity with the number three, bringing us firmly into the world of the Catholic Church at this point, I'm guessing to appeal to the majority audience in the US. The Catholic church is integral to parts of The Conjuring's storyline with its talk of Baptism, to protect the children, and exorcism's, condoned by The Vatican itself, leading me to daydream about how effective the story would have been with Imam's and Islam or Rabbi's and Judaism, that was until the next heart racing scene begun and grabbed my attention right back to the screen for some more seat jumping.
The movie is kind of predictable, never revealing anything you won't expect to happen or haven't seen before, but, does have an edge over its predecessors with its (wild) claims of being a true story. I was tapping away at my smart-phone as soon as I left the cinema, hounding Google for answers as to just how true it all was. I couldn't, surprisingly or not, find too much information online as to how true The Conjuring tale 'really was', even going as far as searching YouTube for the real footage the team of ghost hunters were apparently recording throughout the initial investigations. There were a few interesting documentaries and interviews with Ed and Lorraine Warren, however, which are well worth checking out if you see the movie.
This scene where the couple of good looking ghost hunters teach a class about the levels of spiritual possession, caused my mind to wonder into the reality of demonic possession and the reality of horrible diseases such as schizophrenia. I for one would love to see the 'real' real life movie dealing with the Perron Family's mental health problems, without the gore and special effects, but then doubt it would be anywhere near as entertaining and thrilling as The Conjuring.