Another impressive horror from director James Wan

Rating: 9/10 (5 September 2013)

I finally got round to watching The Conjuring the other day and my word, was it impressive. It reminded me a lot of the old horror films I use to watch when I was younger. A lot of jump scares and quiet then loud moments but the overall the film succeeds because of it's use of older and simpler techniques. I think a lot of modern audiences have forgotten how to feel scared.
The story is based on a true story(!) about a family moving into a new home where strange occurrences start to befall the family members. They contact a paranormal team wife and husband Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) to investigate. What the couple encounter is something more deadlier than they could ever imagined.
With all types of movies based on true stories, as an audience member you can either believe everything you see as fact or take it with a pinch of salt. If you take the former belief then the movie may take on more meaning and shocks and scares may make you feel more....well uneasy. Though saying that if you are a non believable, the story can still provide you with feeling of unease and creepiness.
What works well in this entertaining yarn is it's ability to surprise you with jumps and scares that you think are coming then don't and when they do, it's executed very well. As a fan of the genre I found myself jumping at few choice moments (even though I could tell they something was about to happen). Some of the scares come from implied/suggestive moments like in one scene where two of the daughters are woken up by something and one of the daughters believe that that thing is behind the door, and as an audience member you imagination runs wild as you wait for something to come out only for the door to slam shut and for your heart to miss a beat. It's a cheap trick but very effective. There is little to no gore in this film so gore hounds will be very disappointed.
The acting is uniformly strong in this film with everyone playing their parts straight and with conviction. The director has done his homework too and uses old tricks from classic horror films which he implements with a assurance and aplomb. For those of you who haven't seen old school horror films, this will be a great introduction, and for those of you who have, you can fondly remember how we all use to be scared at the things that go bump in the night and the darkness that lie in the corners of every room.