An incredibly well-made, well-paced, and well-acted scarefest

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2017)

I saw this movie rather late based on numerous recommendations- I tend to watch older horror movies more than new ones. Since I love James Wan, I was really looking forward to seeing this one. And it definitely lived up to my expectations; The Conjuring is a really good horror movie and I fully recommend it to anyone that loves creepy movies.
Firstly, the acting is great all across the board. Aside from the two women in the beginning of the movie that talked about the Annabelle doll (I didn't think they were particularly good), everyone was top-notch. The direction is also incredible- James Wan has already proved himself and I look forward to seeing his other films. There are some incredibly intricate and mesmerizing shots that added to the sense of unease that I got while I was watching it. The pacing is also absolutely impeccable- there were very few dull moments in the movie and everything built up to the very intense third act beautifully. I also really liked Ed and Lorraine Warren a lot- they were great characters. A lot of the scares were also very creative and did not feel cliché at all (the infamous clap scene is one of the best jump scares I have ever seen).
I do have some problems with the movie, though. First of all, the actual family (the Perrons) were never really fleshed out as characters. I thought that they were fine and I did find myself rooting for them when things were going wrong, but I feel like there could have been so much more emotional weight throughout the film if I got to know those characters. Also, there were some scare scenes were very repetitive to the point where I actually think some of them should have been cut from the movie. I really did not need to see 7-8 scenes in which a door slams shut- I think that 1 or 2 would have done the trick. There were also some questions raised that were not answered (I don't know if they are addressed in the sequel since I have not seen it). For example, what did Lorraine see that scarred her so deeply? I was so invested in that mystery and not finding out what she saw was pretty deflating. The movie also isn't all that original; the fact that it is based off of a true story definitely separates it from typical haunted house movies, but I really don't mind the fact that it's not entirely unique since it was such a well-made movie.
Overall, The Conjuring is a really creepy and effective horror movie. I really wish that all horror movies nowadays had as much effort put into them as this movie clearly did. Although I have yet to see the sequel, this movie was so good that I cannot wait to see what the next one brings to the table.
8.2/10 Grade: B+