31 Days of Halloween: Day 24

The Conjuring (2013) Director: James Wan

During the summer of 2013 I began to hear a good amount of hype around a new horror film coming out called The Conjuring.  I got excited at the fact that the film was apparently actually scary.  However, I was not without a hint of sadness, for I knew I would not see it for a while.

The last movie before The Conjuring to garner that much hype was 2007's Paranormal Activity.  I went and saw the film in the theater, and that is when I learned a valuable lesson when it comes to me and horror films.  I can't watch them in the theater because I find the audience getting scared to be hysterical, so I end up just laughing the whole time.  Paranormal Activity hardly phased me in the slightest since it played more like a comedy.  Learning this lesson, I decided to wait until The Conjuring came out on video before I saw it.  Turns out I ended up waiting much longer than that, having only watched it for the first time last night.

Was it worth the wait?  Yes.

I was alone in my apartment, at 10pm, with all the lights out.  The Conjuring is the scariest film I have seen in a long, long time.

The film opens with a prologue introducing a duo of demonologist, ghost hunter people and a story about a possessed doll named Annabelle.  Right from the start, the film does a good job of establishing mood as well as the mythology of the film.  The film then jumps ahead to 1971, Rhode Island.  I family of seven (five daughters) is moving into a house out in the country.  While moving in they discover a hidden basement that looks like as clear a sign as any that the house is haunted.  Haunted house things begin to happen, so the family ask the demonologists for help.

Is that you, Silk Spectre?

I often emphasize that atmosphere and mood are the most important elements of a horror film, and simply resorting to jump scares is easy and boring.  Mood pieces are quiet, while jump scares are loud.  The Conjuring is a loud film, but it is handled in such a way that I was not irritated by the jump bits, but was actually having fun with it.  There is a level of craftsmanship in Wan's directing that exceeds much of what is released these days, and even when the film treads on known territory, it still comes off as fresh.  The loud scenes are still filled with mood so that once the BANG hits, there tension is not lost, but instead built upon.

The film is shot and feels like a horror film of the 1970s.  When was the last time you saw a zoom lens used in a film that was not directed by Wes Anderson?  Even the opening prologue scroll feels like a horror film from the decade.  The Conjuring also pays homage and alludes to other films of the genre through scare bits and plot points.  This is a nice touch and the look feels appropriate for the story.

It is very hard to make a movie scary today with visuals alone, and Wan seems to understand that sound is the most important aspect to making something horrifying.  The sound design and editing is phenomenal, and many of the set pieces revolve around what is heard, not what is seen.  There is a great moment where the mother is locked in the basement and the light goes off.  The screen goes dark for almost 30 seconds, leaving the audience only the soundscape.

Many of the scares include really clever elements, such as scene with a mysterious pair of hands clapping.  One of my favorite moments is when one of the daughters wakes in the night because something was pulling at her leg.  She looks at the shadows behind the door of the room, flushed with fear.  Her sister in the neighboring bed wakes up and asks what's wrong.  The former girl says that there is something behind the door.  The film cuts to a shot showing her perspective.  We can't see anything...

I like that the haunting is a truly evil one.  I always find it somewhat disappointing when it turns out the ghost only wanted a friend, or was missing it's favorite toy.  I want one that is out to kill as many people as possible.  The Conjuring certainly has that, although I was expecting an added surprise from the ghost at the end, but what actually happened is still satisfying.

I only have one real complaint, and it's not even so much a complaint as what I think was a missed opportunity.  I'm going to get into spoilers now, so watch out.  The scene where the witch apparently takes the Annabelle doll is really great, but I wish that it had been developed more.  The doll just goes back in the case.  I like the idea of these two demonic forces joining forces, and I think it could have made for an interesting plot development if the enemy grew in strength like that.  Oh well.

Spoilers end.

The Conjuring scared me.  A lot.  I went to bed right after it ended, which was a mistake.  As I walked to my room from the bathroom the door to my roommates room closed shut.  She wasn't home...  I assumed one of the windows in her room was open, and that it was the wind, but there was no way in hell that I was going to check.  Instead I rushed to my bed and curled up and tried to fall asleep as fast as possible.  I had nightmares, and woke up with sore sholder muscles because I was so tense.

This movie really scared me.  What's great is that as each scary moment was about to happen, I watched with my eyes opened as wide as possible and my arms held tight.  This may sound unpleasant to some, but these moments were actually a great deal of fun!  It's been a while since a movie hit me as hard as this one, and as someone who is always searching for that good scare, this is like finding a mint condition Black Lotus.  If this doesn't all sound like high praise, then I don't know what will.