The Focus Pull Film Journal The Focus Pull Film Journal
The Focus Pull Film Journal The Focus Pull Film Journal
  • Full Issues 
  • Reviews 
  • Features 
  • OUR TEAM
  • Info.
    • OUR TEAM
  • Content
    • Full Issues 
      • Issue #01
      • Issue #02
      • Issue #03
      • Issue #04
      • Issue #05
      • Issue #06
      • Issue #07
      • Issue #08
      • Issue #09
      • Issue #10
      • Issue #11
      • Issue #12
      • Issue #13
      • Issue #14
      • Issue #15
      • Issue #16
      • Issue #17
      • Issue #18
      • Issue #19
      • Issue #20
      • Issue #21
      • Issue #22
      • Issue #23
      • Issue #24
      • Issue #25 - Horror Week
      • Issue #26
      • Issue #27
      • Issue #28
      • Issue #29
      • Issue #30
      • Issue #31
      • Issue #32
      • Issue #33
      • Issue #34
      • Issue #35
      • Issue #36
      • Issue #37
      • Issue #38
      • Issue #39
      • Issue #40
    • Reviews 
      • (All Reviews)
      • Action Adventure
      • Animation
      • Biography/History
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Foreign
      • Horror
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Thriller
    • Features 
      • (All Features)
      • Bonding with Bond
      • Double Exposures
      • Essays
      • Event Coverage
      • Lists
      • New to Netflix
      • News
      • Retrospectives
    • OUR TEAM
REGISTER
@
LOGIN
Reviews
62
1
previous article
Review: Crystal Fairy
next article
Top 5 Movies of 2013: Part One (January - June)

Review: The Conjuring

by Taylor Sinople on July 18, 2013
The Conjuring
Overall Rating
8.5
THE BOTTOM LINE

Recapturing the tense horror and excellent storytelling of the genre’s best, “The Conjuring” nears the territory of the modern-classic.

8.5
Critic Rating
You have rated this

Beginning with a 9-minute short film that would become the feature length torture-mystery “Saw”, director James Wan has become a respected talent for bringing story back to the horror genre. With “The Conjuring,” Wan takes on the paranormal in a unique riff on the classic Amityville-style home haunting story. It’s a film that hits all the tropes of the genre while crafting an experience that is well above the quality of the yearly pack of Halloween-time horror cash-ins. Take note of its summer release date, “The Conjuring” is confident standing out from the crowd of summer action blockbusters, and for good reason – it has nearly all the makings of a classic.

The film’s true story picks up in the 1970’s, following a family that moves into a new home and experiences some increasingly worrisome events, and the husband-wife team of paranormal investigators that attempt to help them.

Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are best known in real life for their involvement in investigating the Amityville haunting, but “The Conjuring” tells the story of an untold case that took place prior to that iconic event. Roger and Carolyn Perron (played by Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor), along with their five daughters move in to a remote farmhouse in rural Rhode Island. Bought from a bank auction, they have no prior knowledge of the property or previous owners.

As it turns out, the home and land it sits on were host to a dark history of terrible happenings that have left behind a hostile, demonic entity. In the vein of “Paranormal Activity”, the build-up is excruciatingly tense as the spirit begins to establish its presence in ways as small as stopping the clocks in the home at 3:07am – the exact time one of those terrible happenings took place. The presence of something otherworldly is even noted in its smell – a sense rarely explored in horror films.

Roger is quick to dismiss the strange occurrences, but his wife Carolyn, who has been waking up with unexplained bruises all over her body, is less willing to overlook the ominous sense of danger in the house. She seeks out Lorraine Warren at a public paranormal meeting and begs for her help. Ed and Lorraine visit the home and immediately pick up on the malevolence of the place – Lorraine is said to be a clairvoyant. The Warrens agree to help the Perron family, but Lorraine’s open connection to the world around her puts her at risk of the spiritual world connecting back with her. When it is understood that the entity in the home has latched itself on to the members of the Perron family, they have no choice but to undergo what Ed describes as an exorcism of their home. They need only to survive long enough to see the process completed.

The 1970’s setting in “The Conjuring” – developed by production designer Julie Berghoff and art director Geoffrey S. Grimsman – adds a rich and refreshing texture to the costumes and cars, as well as influences the plot itself via the available technology of the time. When the Warrens’ team of paranormal investigators set up camp in the house, they attempt to gain proof of the presence of a spirit by rigging the home with 35mm still cameras as well as using a World War II-era 16mm Bolex motion picture camera and black lights to carry out their investigation. All of this territory feels like new ground after so many recycled modern-day horror films. Even the opening title card, a giant title that scrolls past vertically after an on-screen text paragraph introducing the film’s characters, is reminiscent of the classic horror films of the past.

Ron Livingston provides a likable personality to the bleak narrative, but the real stars of the film are the Warrens. Developed with consideration to the possibility of franchising their other cases into follow-up films, the Warrens are given mysterious pasts and actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have great chemistry.

Experienced cinematographer John R. Leonetti brings a distinctive beauty to the camerawork in the film – it’s really something special for the genre. The first time the family enters the home after moving in, the camera tracks all the way through it – front door to back – in a single shot, establishing a crucial geography so that later, during the panic of the third act, the viewer can understand where everyone is inside of the house. All sorts of stylized shots keep things fresh and add to the horror. Great POV shots are used frequently to mimic the character’s eye-line, even when they’re upside down, to make for some very scary moments.

One of the most intense scenes comes from the use of clever sound design when the regular cinematic audio is replaced with a direct feed of the hypersensitive microphones the ghost hunters are using in the cellar of the home to attempt to pick up paranormal voices. The dead air hums loudly, suggesting that even though the speakers in the theater are putting out the same volume levels the entire film; this particular sequence could end in deafening noise.

Nearly every effect in the film is practical. This is a rare case in which the filmmakers understand the place of digital technology in a traditionally film-driven genre. It all comes together for some seriously legitimized horror. This isn’t a campy throwback to the quirky clichés of 70s horror, but a serious attempt to recreate the atmosphere of classics like “The Exorcist” in a modern time.

“The Conjuring” nears the territory of a modern-classic, but lacks one giant, shocking, era-defining moment to make it truly timeless. The film needs its spider walk down the stairs, its shower stabbing, its “here’s Johnny!” The film is very scary, executing horror primarily with jump-out scares, but also sustaining a few moments of terror for 10-20 seconds at a time. What I never got was a moment to swear out loud to – something I experienced even earlier this year.

Regardless of whether it will be a classic or not, “The Conjuring” is certainly a high quality horror feature that cares about story and characters in a way that will make it difficult to go back to anything less. Director James Wan has executed a project that understands and respects its elder films while pushing the genre forward – what more can I ask for?

Release

U.S. Wide Release: July 19th, 2013 | U.K. Wide Release: August 2nd, 2013

Runtime

1 hr. 52 min.

(All Reviews), Horror, Reviews
Joey KingJohn BrothertonLili TaylorPatrick WilsonRon LivingstonVera Farmiga
Joey King, John Brotherton, Lili Taylor, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Vera Farmiga
About the Author
Taylor Sinople
Taylor Sinople
Taylor is a Chicago-based writer and aspiring film historian. He is the editor here at TFP, and has contributed to a number of international publications such as Cinema Scandinavia, PopMatters, and Room 101 Magazine. He can also be found listening to podcasts, researching topics he has little use for, or running after a city bus.
You might also like
Joey KingPatrick Wilson
 

Double Exposure Review: Wish I Was Here

by Taylor Sinople on July 21, 2014
Stilted and unaffecting, "Wish I Was Here" is a disappointing sophomore effort from director Zach Braff.
 
White-House-Down

Review: White House Down

by Taylor Sinople on June 24, 2013
Three-tour Afghanistan veteran John Cale’s (Channing Tatum) career has taken a turn for the mundane when we meet him working as security detail for the United States Speaker of the House. A U.S. Capitol Police officer, Secret Service reject, and divorced father to the young, politics-obsessed Emily (Joey King), Cale takes his daughter to visit […]
comments
Leave a reply
Add Comment Register



Leave a Response
Cancel reply

The Focus Pull in your inbox!

Subscribe to this list, and we'll send you each week's new issue directly to your inbox. One email a week, packed with essential film writing!

Latest Reviews

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks: The 16 Best Films of 2016
 
Form and Function in Alex Ross Perry’s “Queen of Earth&...
 
Digging for Fire and Unexpected: Husband and Wife Process Parenthoo...
 
Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D Review

Latest Features

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks – The 17 Best Films of 2017
 
Taylor Sinople Picks: The 16 Best Films of 2016
 
Taylor Sinople’s Top 10 Films of 2015: “The Duke of Bur...
 
8 Films to See at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival

Our Partners

Advertisement

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

View All
 
8 Films to See at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival
 
Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D Review
 
Berlinale 2015: Eisenstein in Guanajuato
 
Berlinale 2015: Sworn Virgin
 
Berlinale 2015: Under Electric Clouds

LISTS

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks – The 17 Best Films of 2017
 
SNL40: A Look Back at 40 Years of SNL in Film
 
Six Must-See British Films Opening in 2015
 
Oscars 2015: Ranking the Best Picture Nominees
 
Our 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2015
Tweets by @thefocuspull
  • "Popcorn - check. Soda - check...I have a date with Netflix on Friday night." - Sherry
  • "[…] nails it.” I disagree, and frankly wonder what movies John is talking about. The original G..." - Dear Godzilla Fans: Please Stop Defending that ...
  • "[…] www.thefocuspull.com […]" - Annie Hall
  • "[…] more vibrant monologue or confrontation, like the dinner scene that comes at just the right time ..." - Taylor Sinople's Top 10 Films of 2015
  • "[…] of the year is also the stuff of a best picture winner. With Michael Keaton, hot off praise from ..." - Taylor Sinople's Top 10 Films of 2015
TRENDING ON TFP
   
Try a different filter
© 2014 THE FOCUS PULL FILM JOURNAL
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.