Written by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver
This Renegade reviewer has a bit of a fascination with paranormal investigation, the occult, and the Warrens. Having lived in the New England region in a past life for about half a decade, one of my greatest regrets was not attending one of the annual ‘Warrenology’ events. Every year around Halloween paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, founders of NESPR (the New England Society for Psychic Research), put on a lecture event that included footage, photos and discussion of some of their more famous cases (including but not limited to the Smurls and Amityville). Buying a ticket also got you a tour of the Warren’s occult museum, a room in their house where Lorraine still keeps objects from past possessions that may serve as links to the other side (Ed passed away in 2006 but Lorraine still puts on the yearly event with her son-in-law, Tony Spera). For anyone interested in this type of research, it still offers some “up close” time with folks who have seen some…interesting phenomena.
Let’s be honest up front: there’s nothing particularly new going on in James Wan’s latest horror film. But the classic ideas and methods of building suspense and jump scares employed are exceptional, due in no small part to the director. Wan frames things deliciously with many slow burn scenes that ratchet up the tension to sometimes uncomfortable levels, letting the camera dance back and forth in a crowded basement or along a hallway, left to right and up and down until the viewer is dreading the eventual reveal. When jump scares are used, they are earned and don’t come off as cheap. The only drawback to some of these
Special mention must be made of the child actors in the film. A little plot summarization would probably be of benefit here: stay-at-home mom/wife and long haul trucker husband Carolyn and Roger Perron (Taylor and Livingston) move into an old, slightly dilapidated country house in Rhode Island with their five daughters. Bad stuff starts happening, Ed and Lorraine get called in, more bad things happen, etc. (Once again, it’s all in the way it’s done.) The girls of varying ages playing the five Perron daughters are, quite frankly, amazing in their roles, another testament to Wan’s abilities as a director. They were all utterly convincing in moments of play, joy and terror, another reason the film works so well.
And that’s really what it comes down to. The shocks and suspense of The Conjuring deliver, primarily because of the viewer’s
Do yourself a favor and go see The Conjuring, especially if you’re a horror fan. It’s an enjoyable, fun ride. If you’re not a horror fan, go see it anyway; because of the talents and commitment of everyone involved, The Conjuring is a great horror film but also much, much more. It hearkens back to days of The Exorcist and The Omen, which held elements of familial drama just as much as scares.
Epilogue: The only real issue I had with the film is the Annabelle doll. The doll they came up with certainly was creepy, don’t get me wrong; however, had it been my call, I would’ve went with the real life Annabelle – a huge, oversized Raggedy Ann. To me, that’s just much more creepy. (My daughter has a small one; they can be disturbing if you look at them too long.)