Rare is it these days that you get a horror film that manages to elevate itself into being a great film. Sure there are those that are scary, and many are competently made. But every once in a while you get something that is the perfect combination of craft, scares, and spirit that you can’t help but acknowledge its greatness. The Conjuring, the new film by James Wan, is the first horror film in a long time that I’ve been so thoroughly entertained by every aspect that even when I was scared shitless I was in awe of just how well made of a film it was.
The majority of the conjuring concerns the haunting of a family, but the film opens up with an extended sequence of Ed and Lorraine Warren investigating a case of an Anabelle doll that is terrorizing two women in their apartment. This is a particularly bold choice, given how much of the film was sold on the haunted house aspect, but these early scenes give us a great sense of dread and allow for us to get to know the Warren’s abilities. We then move to Delaware where the Perron family moves into a house that is situated on a plot of land that has a particularly nasty history. Of course they don’t know that, and proceed to go about their lives. However, upon discovering a basement filled with old furniture, strange things start happening to the family and the mother seeks out the Warrens to help them with the problem. The Conjuring then turns up the magnitude to about a 20 on a 1-10 scale as the spirits become more malevolent and everyone is pushed to the brink.
The Conjuring as it’s composed, is a relatively straight forward film, but it manages to have an interesting structure. As mentioned above the film doesn’t even get to the family until after the Anabelle doll stuff and a title card about how this case was so malevolent that it has been kept under wraps until now. Once the film moves into the segment surrounding the family, the script weaves in the scares and human element really well. Considering it attempts to shed light on both the Perron haunting and the toll these cases take on the Warrens, it’s a great sign that the film works. The film does get a bit heavy-handed with Ed and Lorraine’s dialogue, but the film more than makes up for it with its tight pacing and shocking turns.
Making the most of the script and elevating it into pure terror and fun is director James Wan. As the man who has made such films as Saw and Insidious, it’s no surprise that Wan can make a decent horror film. But he totally steps up his game here to create this immersive experience. What impressed me the most was just how sure the direction was. I mean this dude managed to create a jump scare with some wind, some music notes and a sheet. A SHEET! Whether he’s rotating the camera to reflect POV shots or just allowing it to linger, you feel like Wan is in control at all times. It was so refreshing to watch a film that used space so well, allowing us to really soak in how scary this situation is.
The MVP of film however is Joseph Bishara’s incredibly ominous, but not overbearing score. Music and silence are so much in the fabric of what make a horror movie great and Bishara’s compositions, combined with Wan’s surefire direction, are sufficiently creepy but never overtake the film.
I remarked on Twitter that I’ve never had to call on the name of Jesus more times in any horror movie than I did during my screening of The Conjuring and I am 100% serious. It definitely deserves your dollars this weekend and continuous discussion thereafter.
Grade: ****/**** (A)