A surprise out of nowhere, a little formulaic but well done and earthy

Rating: 7/10 (23 July 2013)

The Conjuring (2013)
Very very well made and "convincing" as much as these far-fetched events can convince. The acting and filming (including some cool camera-work) are first rate, really good. And so the direction, under James Wan, deserves a lot of credit.
What this movie lacks, though, is plain old originality. Somehow you might not mind, since it sucks you in fast and makes it interesting all through. But there are many movies (many) that deal with similar ideas, even with a kind of pseudo-documentary aspect built in, and with more creative aspects, too.
The classic influences here are pretty well laid out. "The Exorcist" which was shot and released during the same period this movie was set is a clear parallel. And for its own originality, and for a more disturbing aspect as well as a somewhat more "grand" and oddly lyrical take on the ideas, that first version outclasses this one. (If you haven't seen it recently, give it a look before you doubt.) Then there are little hints of lots of other movies, various haunted house films of course, and even a nod to "The Birds" which you'll see several times.
The movie that this owes maybe too much to is the rather well done recent "The Awakening" set in a British boarding school. It has an all too similar set of strategies, with cameras and remote devices meant to catch the spirits in a tangible way. In some ways that was a better movie, with a really terrific leading women, but this one has some extra layers of possession and exorcism that give it an over-the-top craziness by the end.
What really floats this boat ("The Conjuring") for two hours is the convincing core cast playing things in a real, unsensational way (as much as you can when you're possessed and flying through the air). And here I mean mostly the two woman and the husband of the demonologist couple. (The father of the family is a bit bland.) And then there's the camera itself, which almost becomes another character the way it moves and inhabits (possesses?) some of the scenes. The photography ought to be up for some award nominations in a few months.
You'll find this all harrowing stuff if you let it. It could have pushed some new boundaries, for sure, and maybe avoided some implausible aspects (people might not fall through a crumbing building with only a tiny scratch). But hey, then it wouldn't be supernatural, would it? A great summer escape movie.