The Conjuring [DVD] [2013]

The key with The Conjuring is not that it has freshness on its side, as evidenced by the ream of horror fans arguing on internet sites about "nothing new on the table" , but while those fans will be going hungry for a very, very long time, The Conjuring does everything right for the splinter of horror it deals with. There's a lot to admire about a horror film that in this day and age stands tall and proud against the ream of remakes, sequels and teen friendly slashers that "haunt" the multiplexes with all too much frequency these days. Free of gore and sex, this was automatically going to alienate a good portion of the lustful members of the horror fan base, but for those who like their horror served with appetising scares and a cauldron of suspense, then this delivers plenty to your particular table. Forget the "based on a true story" tag, since it's kind of irrelevant in this new technological age, it's a selling gimmick that actually means "this story might be true and we might have played with it a bit". Regardless of hoax charges and embellishments, just buy into the premise, commit to it as a scary story in the same way as director James Wan has, for then the rewards are there for the compliant. Story essentially is based around an investigation in the early seventies by paranormal specialists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who aided the Perron family as they were victims of dreadful supernatural events at their Rhode Island home. Wan builds it deftly, letting us into the Perron families lives as they move into what they believe to be a dream home. Then things start to happen, but again Wan builds it in slow instances, creating a palpable sense of dread, his camera work intelligent. So when the big moments come they have maximum impact and have us also yearning for the Warren's to get involved. There is no over killing of the boo-jump scares, they are placed with care and marry up superbly with the mounting tension. Naturally all the cliché conventions of the haunted house movie are here, strange smells, creaky doors, ominous cellar and etc, yet these are supplemented with Wan's talented knack for a good scare and a very effective production design. From mysterious bruises and literal leg pulls - breath holding games of hide and seek - to bona fide pant soiling moments, The Conjuring is a lesson in sustained unease until the big finale is unleashed. The script is devoid of cheese and pointless filler, itself refreshing in a horror sub-genre that suffers often with these problems. Joseph Bishara's musical score is an absolute nerve shredder, and again it's a refreshing accompaniment because it doesn't resort to telegraphed shrieks to tell us to be afraid, it never overwhelms a scene. John Leonetti's cinematography has Gothic textures, both in the house and outside of the lakeside farmhouse, while the strong lead cast of Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston come up trumps for sure. Met with critical and box office success, The Conjuring justifies its reputation as a superb haunted house movie. 9/10

You know, I was quite worried that this would be another silly teenager scary movie with stabbings and the usual cheap stupid scares like cats and mirror tricks. I have seen countless haunted house movies over many hears, including a haunting TV show. It is extremely hard to unsettle me and I was truly afraid watching this, on a sunny day drinking cans too. I Left this one for last because I had a feeling it would be the type of movie that would get under my skin and stay there for a while after I was done watching it. I was right. Remember all those times you watched horror movies and saw the camera slowly moving towards a dark place of a room and you just KNOW something is in there and going to jump out but you don't know when. This movie has you feeling like that a lot and it leaves you in that place to suffer through it. it is obvious that this family is under attack but you just don't know how it is going to go down. I loved the clapping part it really had my on the edge and reminded me of the orphanage clapping game. You cant help but recoil with tension when you see everything unfolding. Mr Wan I bow down to you, your formula is pitch perfect and should be respected. I had my hands up to my face for some of this, I felt like such a little girl. Its strange because I have seen movies like this so many times. This is textbook how things like this happen, there are so many stories out there where people start to experience certain things just before this happens ect ect. Even though I am familiar with the "routine" of horror movies it still scared me. It scared me a lot. I am a huge fan of the Warrens and felt their characters were played respectfully. There are some really good extras about them in the bonus section that is well worth a watch. I was afraid that they might dishonour the couple but they didn't. Lorraine is such a wonderful person. Everything was done properly and they didn't pour cheapness into it. This is not a typical teenager movie and certainly deserves a chance. This is a good scary movie but some might find it too much so it would be a good idea to know what scares you before you end up with nightmares.

Good film of the franchise

Directed by James Wan (Insidious, Saw, Dead Silence), The Conjuring is set in America during the 1960's. We follow the 'real' case-files of paranormal investigators The Warrens, who work against supernatural elements trying to possess the living, in this case the Perron family. The Warrens face a terrifying battle against a demon unwilling to leave... One thing you can expect from a James Wan film is quality, with an impressive collection of horror titles behind him, disappointment was never an option. Unlike many supernatural films of late (Paranormal Activity, Grave Encounters) this film presents a nostalgic era before technology ruled the home roost (and the horror film), when a lonesome haunted house out in the sticks, and a creative eye for fear could hold the audience. The film creates a haunting atmosphere set around childhood themes; using games, toys and innocence to project the violence of this sinister entity. The POV of both families fighting 'evil' offers a variety of encounters and experiences, in a film that may have been less engaging otherwise. Although there is the usual line- up of jumps, Wan includes his own touch of originality making you leave your seat a few times. The reveal is always a tense moment in a ghost film, The Conjuring manages to keep it together unlike many others (Mama). However, the reveal always seems a needless element, as the presence of the ghost is enough to create the fear, and putting a face to a ghost is unnecessary. The solid acting of the cast should be noted, along with a well written script with moments of comic relief, but don't get too comfy, as Wan will pack a punch to those unsuspecting. An example of how ghost films should be; packed full of jumps, and minus the showcase of evolving technology that captures 'found' footage.

Ed and Lorraine Warren, real life paranormal researchers, claim to have investigated over 10,000 cases in their careers, the most (in)famous being the Amityville haunting. But before that came one of their most dark, malevolent cases; the case depicted in The Conjuring. Rhode Island, 1971. When Ed and Lorraine (Wilson & Farmiga) get called to investigate strange disturbances at a farm house recently inhabited by the Perron family, they soon realize that this is no simple case of creaky floorboards - there's something truly evil in the house. Based on a "true" story. My already super-high expectations for The Conjuring were increased even further after the critical reception it got from its US release. There are too few genuinely scary horror films released these days - Insidious, director James Wan's previous effort, was the last to really creep me out, and as a result he's swiftly become my favourite contemporary horror director. Those who follow my twitter feed will know I've been banging on about The Conjuring for months now, about how great and utterly creepy it looks, so it's wonderful to report, finally, that my excitement was not misplaced. I think it speaks volumes about The Conjuring that it's rated 15 purely for the scares. There's no violence, no sex and no drugs to be seen; it's just frightening. Whether you choose to believe in the truth of this case or not makes no difference. Personally, I'm fairly open-minded about the possibility of life after death, but when it comes to demons and hell - which much of The Conjuring centres on - I'm completely out. Ironically, though, I always find demons far scarier than a serial killer, even though the latter actually has the possibility to happen. Maybe part of the reason is because I can feel safe after it's finished with the knowledge that I'm not going to be haunted by a demon, but I have to admit, this one did plague me long into the night... From the opening sequence of The Conjuring, where two girls recite a creepy story about their supposedly possessed doll, Annabelle (the one on all the posters and another "true" case), to Ed and Lorraine, right through to the spine-tingling climax, everything just works. It's horror unlike most, in that it doesn't rely solely on jump scares or seeing every single little thing. It lets your mind torture you as much as the lens. Wan is masterful at building suspense and dread, but the real genius comes with his payoffs. Where most horror films would end the long, silent trek through the house with a big jump, or show us the ghost at the end of the hallway, Wan might instead simply imply that there's something or someone behind the door, where it's particularly dark, or have a gloomy shadow creep down the stairs towards a little girl, or show us the ghoul but not necessarily make it a jump. The hide and clap sequence (that you may have seen in the trailer) is a perfectly spooky example. I can't imagine anyone ever playing this game again. Mrs. Perron, stumbling through her new house blindfolded, playing the game with her youngest daughter (the searcher must find the hider with the help of three claps), finds herself in a bedroom when a closet clicks open behind her and a pair of hands creep out and clap in the most sinister way you would ever believe it's possible to clap, drawing her towards them. It's such a simple idea, but it's completely terrifying. I could feel every single person in the audience squirming back into their chairs when those hands popped out. For me, that's scarier than a jump because it's lasting terror. Of course, there are plenty of jump scares dotted in there as well, as is a horror's wont, but they don't dictate the show. Similar to how I felt with Insidious, The Conjuring feels like more than just a scary haunted house movie; it genuinely feels evil throughout. The constant presence in the house, the feeling that you know they're being watched, that whatever's lurking really means to cause harm. It barely allows you a second to catch your breath and regroup. You never feel safe, and it's horrendously invigorating. The score, too, is fantastically chilling, using old-school horror strings and plucks that pierce right into you and riddle you with goosebumps. When that's coupled with a creepy, evil witch lurking on top of a wardrobe, you know you're in trouble. Portraying a real person will always bear a certain hindrance on an actor; having to rein themselves in with particular tropes and idiosyncrasies, yet at the same time it can also be liberating; they can study the person and (hopefully) talk to them (though not, sadly, in Wilson's case as Ed has passed away) to really embody the character with first-hand insight. Farmiga chatted at length with Lorraine (who is, by the way, a fascinating woman to listen to) to get inside her head and understand how she felt during this case, and I think it paid off massively. She's a fantastic actress anyway, but there's a real authenticity about this performance. The rest of the cast is equally as good - particularly the five young actresses playing the daughters. To play scared so believably impressive, but at such a young age is incredible. The Conjuring, contrary to a few comments I've read, doesn't steal scares from previous entries in the genre like The Exorcist, The Omen, The Haunting etc., it simply pays homage to them and finds its own voice. I even read a comment that said something along the lines of "seasoned horror fans will be unable to find it scary because we've seen all the scares before", but that's complete nonsense, and frankly, a bit insulting. I've been in love with horror since I saw The Evil Dead when I was 12, which I think drops me firmly into the "seasoned" category, yet The Conjuring scared the pants off me. If anything, I'd say it was the exact opposite; it creates new scares in a way that we've rarely seen, with the old-school '70s vibe lending to the impression that it was made during the glory days of aforementioned horror classics, at a time when the fear of possession and the occult was rife. This is a benchmark in modern horror. I sincerely hope James Wan doesn't abandon the genre completely because at the moment he's one of the very few people who knows how to do it properly. Stylized, atmospheric, heart-pumping, tense, sinister and genuinely frightening, The Conjuring is the 2013 horror film to beat. Take a bow, Mr. Wan.

6 on the dice

Warning this review contains spoilers. This is an amazing horror film, nowadays with films like paranormal activity cashing in every year, films like this are few and far between. Based on the alleged true story based on the case by ed and lorraine warren, this tells the story of an ordinary family ( based also on the real life perrons) haunted by one the most manevolant spirits iv ever seen in film. This spirits intention is to posess the mother to kill her own children. You learn more as the movie goes about this spirit and how it came to be, and needless to say it is truly chilling. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are fantastic in their potrayals of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and the rest of the cast are equally as brilliant, and the actress who plays Carolyn Perron ( sorry cant remember her name off the top of my head) does an amazing job as the possessed mother. She is terrifying in her possesed state. This film got glowing critical reviews and immense commercial success and its easy to see why. This is easily one the best modern horror films. With this and insidious, James Wan is impressing me big time!

The recent spate of ghost/haunted house possession stories has not yielded anything which is really decent and The Conjuring is among them. While I welcome a return to a genre whose purpose is simply to offer a frightening experience to its audience after an extended previous deluge of teens-in-peril nonsense whose purpose is to repulse, I'm now ready to move on because the haunted house story offers nothing new. Directors churn out cliche after cliche and the conjuring is no exception. Director James Wan is aware that his film uses such cliches but insists that they work. I don't believe that they do - we have seen them all too many times before and we know exactly what to expect. They are all here: creaking doors…well it's pointless me listing them. Is there anything new out there? I'm beginning to doubt it. Film makers pander to what they consider to be what the audience wants and indeed this does seem to work for a number a viewers, judging by the number of positive views here. However the number of negative reviews demonstrates that some viewers are fed up with seeing the same old stuff. Exploitation of fear in the cinema is a fascinating subject but surely now something new is needed - a different approach. There are a few directors who can pull off a sense of real fear without resorting to standard haunted house nonsense but while audiences require spoon feeding with material which they've probably seen countless times before, these directors are not going to really surface. But back to the film in question. I have to admit that Wan has done a pretty good job of working with what he's got - this is an effective contribution to the genre but if you have seen countless numbers of haunted house films, you may be disappointed that you're not clinging to the edge of your seat. There are a couple of good moments, one in particular where a character insists that she can see someone behind a door but as the film progresses it loses it's grip and finishes on a messy and ridiculous finale. Wan understands the genre for sure, and he plays with audience expectations by setting up a situation where we expect something to happen but it doesn't. While this technique serves to invert the cliche, it is overdone here and becomes tedious and too-clever-for-its-own-good. The use of sound is well considered too. This is an element which is way overdone in films like this and often reduces tension rather than increasing it. Wan has opted to remove audio effects completely in some scenes and this is effective. So while Wan's direction is sound enough, the result fails in its intent (for me anyway), because his enthusiasm outweighs his maturity and once this is fulfilled and he moves away from this genre, Wan will be a director to watch.

Great

Arguably the best horror movie in recent years I can't describe how satisfied I was when I left the movie theater after watching this. Only thing I've experienced that comes that close or about the same was when I watched The Exorcist and Paranormal Activity 1 so it really feels like a horror masterpiece so it was extremely obvious I was getting this the second it came out in Blu-ray for my horror collection. Amazing movie from start to finish and I think it's safe to say The Conjuring establishes the new standard for true horror in this day and age, leaving gore/slasher horror aside this film brings back and captures perfectly the good old haunted house style of film and executes its tension building and scares like no other modern movie. I demand you true horror fans to GET THIS!!

Buena película. Esta versión solo trae el doblaje castellano de la película.

ho preso la versione import,UN FILM DAVVERO MOLTO BELLO. il bluray import PRESENTA L'AUDIO ITALIANO. questi generi mi sono sempre piaciuti.

My personal movie library