Excellent Old School Scare

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2014)

If you haven't seen this film yet, do yourself a favour and watch it ASAP. Simply put, it is a good old fashioned scare that relies on a good story, compelling acting, beautiful cinematography and a fantastic score. James Wan really is the master when it comes to timely scares. The use of the score in this film to build anticipation is superb. You can connect and relate to the characters almost immediately and the scares are actually scary which is unusual for a modern day horror. It has all the old school scare tactics, bumps in the night, possession, exorcisms, dark cellars and well children, who make a lot of scary films in my opinion. It doesn't resort to grotesque measures to scare the audience, instead it plays on our real fears, supernatural paranormal activity that is hard to explain and even harder to deal with. Vera Farmiger and Patrick Wilson were cast perfectly and have a real chemistry in the film, and the back-story is clear and well presented without having to resort to long trails of dialogue or extended flashbacks that interrupt the mood and suspense of the film. All in all this is just a fantastic movie for any horror fan, I saw it some time ago at the cinema and I can't wait to see the sequel which has already been agreed upon.