The Conjuring

Being a huge fan of horror films, I am constantly on the hunt for movies that will genuinely scare me.  This of course, for me anyway, is extremely hard to find in American films. When I say I like horror, I’m taking about Japanese and Korean films that leave you traumatized. The kind that have you consciously waiting for the dead girl covered in blood and dirt to crawl out from under your bed while you lie awake at 3am with your feet tucked tightly under your blanket to avoid being dragged through the house by a demon. Yeah, those  films. While I do have a hard time finding films in the states that have that true horror film essence, James Wan’s The Conjuring definitely has some unsettling and eerie aspects of its own.

                  The Conjuring is a horror film based on the cases and finding of the ghost hunting, paranormal activity seeking married couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.  (Here is their website in case you guys want to read up about them: http://www.warrens.net/) The film follows the story of the Perron family who moved into a farmhouse in Rhode Island that they soon found out was haunted by a very evil and dangerous spirit that eventually latched itself onto the mother, Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor). The Warrens spend their time helping this family as best as they can to determine what exactly is haunting them, then later they work to rid the house and the family of conjuringthe spirits that are terrorizing them.

       The story was an interesting one to choose from the Warren’s case files. I found myself intrigued the entire time wanting to know what was going to happen next. Apart from the interesting story line, the filmmaking was extremely well done. Wan created a world of unease that never really left a moment for the viewer to feel completely comfortable; just when you think everything is okay something very creepy happens. Now to say that I couldn’t sleep after seeing the film would be a lie. It wasn’t as scary as it was unsettling. There were many times during the film that I would find myself so tense on an edge because I was just waiting for something to happen and I knew it was coming and then nothing happened, nothing at all. As a viewer you just knew something or someone was going to pop up or a hand would grab someone and then absolutely nothing would happen! That was definitely off kilter and eerie because then when something did happen you really didn’t expect it.

                  James Wan did a phenomenal job on this film just like his other horrors including Insidious and Saw. I highly, highly recommend you go see it before it leaves theatres because it definitely provides a fun filled evening. Not to mention Patrick Wilson looks far too attractive for his own good. Seriously let me just gush over him for a minute because he is too handsome not to.  I never thought a man could rock a pair of bellbottoms but Patrick Wilson proved me wrong.  Okay I’m done.