Based on true files?

Rating: 6/10 (23 July 2013)

Watching "The Conjuring" was like going to a Halloween fun house, where all the scares are delivered by people jumping out from dark places. It happened so many times in this film (with accompanying jolts from the soundtrack) that you eventually started anticipating them. Take them out of the movie and the scare factor fades like a ghost.
Look, some of the acting was excellent, especially Lili Taylor (who got a bit more of a workout than she did in "The Haunting").
What really ruined this flick for me was the 'based on the true case files of the Warrens." Hey, I am interested in paranormal investigations and would never discount them out of hand, but when Patrick Wilson, playing Ed Warren, starts to introduce the religious mumbo jumbo it was cringe-worthy. Not only was his acting entirely wooden, but his dialogue seemed to have been written by Pat Robertson. "True?" Like "The Amityville Horror?" Ask anyone from Long Island how legitimate THAT one was.
Also, hasn't anybody seen "Scream?" One should never go into dark, spooky basements alone, or stop in the middle of reciting your exorcism to see what's going to happen next. There are horror movie rules. This one just piled on the clichés. When they added an extraneous scene reminiscent of "The Birds" it passed the point of no return.
As of this writing an 8.1? Really? And I thought my '6' was generous.