Best Horror Film of The Year So Far

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2013)

The Conjuring (2013) is a supernatural horror film based on a true story directed by James Wan. It stars Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Vera Farmiga and Ron Livingston.
The plot of the film is about a family, the Perrons who move into a new house only to discover it is haunted by a dark presence. They seek help from the Paranormal Investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who then find themselves investigating the most terrifying case of their lives.
Is this film scary? YES! Yes it is, no bones about it. I usually consider myself to be desensitised to horror films due to watching too many of them but whilst watching this it was giving me goose bumps and sending chills down my spine.
This may sound like your typical haunted house film that we've seen so many times before with the likes of The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, The Entity and The Exorcist etc and essentially it is but it throws its own stuff on the table to keep it fresh and original.
What makes this film so great and helps it to succeed as a horror is the atmospheric tension combined with the frightening visuals and a few jump scares. Jump scares are often a cheap way to induce a quick scare but The Conjuring uses them effectively. If you take away the jump scares that it has you are still left with one hell of an eerie & creepy atmosphere and a constant fear of dread lurking in every scene. Because this film is set in the 70s it really helps with making it feel like one of those classic haunted house films. It has everything from an old house with a tragic history, a boarded up hidden basement full of dusty old furniture, a creepy puppet, an old mechanical children's toy, a witch, a possession, an exorcism, the list goes on and on. It also plays on childhood fears we've all had when we were younger such as monsters being under the bed, in the closet, things that go bump in the night. When you're watching this you know you're watching a horror film, there's no mistaking it for anything else.
The acting in the film is good, all the actors and actresses play their parts well so you believe they are the characters they're playing. You experience their emotions with them even though those emotions mostly consist of being scared shitless, you do feel the sigh of relief when their ordeal is over and done with.
The musical score is excellent and well composed which is another contributing factor to the all round creepiness of the film. It also has a few catchy songs from the late 50s/60s thrown in.
The Conjuring isn't just a great horror film it's actually a great film all round. This is a true classic in the making and one of the stand out horror films of this era. Already it can be compared to the likes of The Exorcist & The Amityville Horror and hold its own against them. James Wan really pulled out the stops and this film along with his previous ones have undoubtedly made him this generation's equivalent of the likes of Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper & William Friedkin, and a true master of horror. The Conjuring = 9/10