Plays like a greatest hits compilation by a cover band

Rating: 5/10 (14 November 2014)

THE CONJURING is a technically proficient, yet ultimately empty and derivative scare-fest which fails to deliver any real scares. Before jumping into what I find wrong with it, I will give some credit to James Wan for effectively using camera-work and the soundtrack to ratchet up the tension, but he mostly goes for the overkill approach. The score is overbearing and telegraphs each and every jump scare from a mile away. There were only a couple of moments that even slightly startled me. Not only that, but the movie doesn't even try very hard to create an emotional connection between the audience and the family who's being haunted. The only characters that are explored and developed in any way are the Warrens, who don't even really enter the main story until about halfway through the movie. Until then, you have two separate story strands (which could have been two separate movies) which only intersect in a convoluted way. Therein lies another problem: they could have cut out a lot of side-story involving the Warren's daughter in favor of developing the family that's central to the "conjuring." It's almost like the movie wants to do too much. Then, there's the laughable source material. I am not one who subscribes to a belief in the supernatural so the entire pretext/concept for the movie is not one that particularly engages me. Still, they could have done a whole lot better to engage me in other ways, like actually getting me to care about the situation. Instead, they import every genre cliché and trope from nearly every other paranormal horror movie, throw it at the screen and hope it sticks. Not much of it does. Still, I will give the movie credit for effectively using a balance of practical and CGI effects. Some of the stuff they show isn't too graphic, but it's creepy enough to leave an impression, at least for a little while. So, is it worth watching? Only if you haven't seen stuff like POLTERGEIST, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, and even James Wan's own INSIDIOUS which at least introduces some comic relief to lighten things up. This movie takes itself WAY too seriously, and suffers as a result. It's also borrows so much from other, greater films that it feels like a greatest hits compilation at best. Too bad it falls flat on it's face.