Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Movie Review- The Conjuring By James Wan



Movie Title: The Conjuring (A)

Director: James Wan

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy.

About the Story: Carolyn and Roger Perron move into their new house, an old farmhouse spread over a vast area of 200 acres, along with their five daughters and their pet dog. Trouble starts the next day when they find their dog dead near their house. Soon, the women of the house experience strange activities like all the clocks in their house stop at 3:07 AM, Carolyn finds mysterious bruises on her body and one of the girls, Christine, feels an eerie presence in her bedroom that tries to pull her down from her bed.

When the events in the house get violent in nature, Carolyn, seeks help of the famous paranormal researchers, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Ed and Lorraine, who had already performed numerous exorcisms and investigated paranormal activities, explain to the Perron family that their house is haunted by many spirits at least one of which is an evil soul, hell bent on harming the family.

When Lorraine digs into the history of the farmhouse, she finds out that an evil witch by the name of Bathsheba, lived in the house during the 19th century. Bathsheba practiced sorcery and sacrificed her own children for her rituals after which she killed herself. Bathsheba curses the house and vows to never allow anyone to occupy her land. 

The Warrens decide to perform exorcism in the house but, for that they say, they require the church permission. They set up cameras in all corners to obtain proof of the paranormal activities occurring in the house.

That night they discover a secret passage that leads to the cellar of the house and Lorraine who accidently falls into the cellar, sees the ghosts of people who have died in the house. After gathering enough evidence, the Warrens decide to approach the Church to gain permission to perform exorcism but something happens that blows the Warrens away and even many decades later they remember this case to be the most disturbing experience of their career .

My Review: I don’t usually watch horror movies as I absolutely hate myself for watching the movie when I have to spend nights alone in my house. But there was so much hype about this movie that I decided bravely to watch it in theater with my husband.

And WHAT a movie. Even with my half covered eyes and fully closed ears, I found the movie to be scary and distressing. And the fact that this is a true story and there are people who have actually experienced the horror shown in the movie only increases the fear factor among the audience.

The cast has performed superbly in the movie but a special mention goes to Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren and Joey King as Christine Perron.

The sound effects add to the nerve-racking moments especially during the hide-clap-seek scenes. I was practically hurting my husband by holding onto his arms in a steely grip. 

The director has thankfully kept the gore and bloodshed to minimum but this movie still remains the best in horror movies after “The Exorcist”.

My only grouse is that, at the end it was not quite clear if the house was rid of the evil spirits and the movie could have been lengthier(running time-112 mins)

Best Scenes: The scene where one of the daughters Christine (Joey King) feels a presence under her bed and sees “someone” hiding behind the doors.

When the mother, Carolyn (Lili Taylor), hears someone clapping and is pushed into the cellar.

The scene where Cindy (Mackenzie Foy) sleepwalks into her sister’s room and the spirit of an old woman jumps on her from the top of the cupboard.

Verdict: One hell of a horror movie, definitely must-watch, you wouldn’t want to watch it if you are spending the night alone at your house.

Rating: 4.5/5

To watch the trailer of The Conjuring click on the below link. It also has the real members of  the Perron family talking about their experiences:



1 comment: