Oh man, I haven’t been this scared in a long time. The Conjuring goes back to horror’s roots to deliver a very frightening film. Director James Wan (like Joss Whedon with Cabin in the Woods) adds a new wrinkle to the horror genre by tweaking a familiar formula with a self-aware piece. All the beats are there: the haunted house, demonic possession, exorcisms, etc with one contemporary layer: there is also a ghost hunting couple with years of knowledge in the field that helps the family with their problem. The extra complexity of the story keeps the Conjuring fresh and still very scary. Also many of the subplots with the Warren family are pushed to the side in the final act (which can sort of be forgiven since they hint at a possible continuation of the story).
Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) Perron have been struggling and moved into a new house in the middle of the woods with their four daughters in 1971. After a few days, each family member encounters some strange and ominous noises and encounters with the presence in their home. With nowhere else to turn, Carolyn attends a seminar by Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) Warren, who have been releasing demons from people’s lives for a long time. However, as soon as the Warrens enter the fray, the demonic demonstrations become more aggressive and sinister.
Let’s get out the small issues first. The little girls could have used more character development. As is, to stick to the “Based on true events” story (also irritating), the sisters are treated like a collective scared child entity. Like any horror movie, there are some logic leaps that aren’t really necessary. At one point the move out of the house plan is recommended, but the family accepts the Warrens’ recommendation that the plan won’t work. A simple night in a hotel room with the spirits still there would have worked better, and helped establish the Warren credibility by saying why the demon followed them. These little faults could have been corrected with one extra look over the script and launched The Conjuring into rarified horror air.
That is because The Conjuring is one of the scariest movies in recent memory. The reason it is so scary is complex. The Boo moments are effectively executed because of a seamless combination of sounds, camera, and timing. The sounds feel natural to the setting and are grounded in the ordinary, thus growing audience dread and paranoia as The Conjuring progresses. The camera is awkwardly placed so multiple locations (like a door and a cabinet) where a scare can be generated exist on-screen, making the audience guess where the scare is coming from. Plus, blurred backgrounds and first person point of views with sudden movement (that is not disorienting) keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Most importantly though, the timing of the scares is off. The first 30 minutes does a great job setting this up; at one point a character enters the recently discovered pitch black cellar with just matches, has to relight several, and then turns on a light downstairs, leading to a thud coming from upstairs. One of these three innovations (sound, camera, timing) would have been enjoyable, but the combination of the three keeps the scares consistently effective.
Most horror finales have a big reveal of a grotesque or shadowy figure that sucks the air out of the film. The character development from the adults raises the stakes of the scares in the Conjuring’s third act. The Perrons love of family and their children allow Ron Livingston and especially Lili Taylor’s fight against the demons to become more intimate and extremely involving. Also by this time, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have grown interesting personalities and have become equal main characters; their fates become intertwined with the Perron family and they have to overcome real and metaphorical demons in a smart but also emotional and honest way. Wilson has worked with Wan before and is good here, but Farmiga establishes herself as the soul of The Conjuring. She makes the audience feel what she is feeling.
The Conjuring is something most horror movies are not: smart. Because of the careful consideration put into the characters and the scares, all frights have the double hit of being scary to the audience and for the audience. James Wan firmly establishes himself as one of the most innovative horror directors today. He can direct atmosphere horror (Insidious, The Conjuring) or torture porn (Saw) equally effectively. I look forward to some studio giving him more creative license to truly see what the man can do.