The best Horror cinema experience I've had for a long time.

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2013)

Great modern horror with it's roots firmly in the 1970's, both in the story's setting and also with it's production style and cinematography - The Conjuring doesn't disappoint. Without going into the plot I will simply say that this is a highly effective ghost story that surpasses it's peers by way of the skillful direction of James Wan and the uniformly excellent cast. We care for the Perron's and want to see them survive this terrifying ordeal and we believe that Ed and Lorraine Warren also care for the frightened family and are willing to do whatever it takes to help them.
The good - The sets, script and actors are all fantastic. The atmosphere starts off creepy and just gradually increases until the climatic final act. Extra marks for the highly effective sound design that heightens the audiences sense of terror during the scares. It was also nice to see a couple of welcome touches of humor offering some much needed light when things threatened to become almost unbearably tense and heavy.
The bad - even though the director teases the audience for almost an hour before showing us anything of the main ghost I still felt that he could have held off a good while longer. Some of the most effective scares in the film involve seeing nothing more than the black shadows behind an ajar door.
It was great seeing and hearing the audiences reaction to this film in the cinema. Once the film started the cinema fell completely silent apart from moments when anxious viewers implored a character to be careful etc. Great stuff. There is at least one unexplored plot thread that would make for a great sequel so here's hoping that Wan signs up for at least one more film.