Well well well, what have we here? We have a rated R summer blockbuster is what we have here. That kind of thing is generally unheard of these days. According to Box Office Mojo, as of August 4th The Conjuring has earned $107,956,907 domestic gross since it's release on July 19th. Keeping in mind that this film was made for 20 million dollars and still has yet to be released in a number of overseas markets you can damn well expect this movie to make much more money as it trots the globe.
Directed by James Wan, the man who brought us the first installment of the Saw franchise back in 2004, which at the time was a pretty awesome breath of fresh air for the horror genre, this movie is also indeed another breath of fresh air. To be completely honest, hype is what got my attention with this film from the get go. The good press this film has received from having an R-rating not for gore, nudity or violence but for just being fucking scary alone pulled me right into the theatre to see what the hype was all about. To be honest, hype usually turns me off right away and sets my mind on a bias track. So needless to say that going into this I had my expectations set fairly low seeing as most horror movies coming out today are just rehashes of rehashes and are so goddamn vanilla that they really don't keep my attention for very long.
All that being said.. right away I was pulled into this flick. I'm not really into the supernatural, good vs. evil or anything to do with demonic possession but the way it is delivered didn't really put me into a coma of boredom and kept me interested actually. To spare as much synopsis as possible by just saying the main characters, the Warrens, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are glorified ghost hunters, paranormal experts and most of all, debunkers. That's what I liked most was the fact that their main objective was to usually find a reasonable explanation for "supernatural" occurrences before getting the G-man involved. That is ..until they meet the Parrens, a family who just moved into a farm house in the Rhode Island countryside where after a few days, ridiculous things begin to happen to them that they just can't seem to explain. Setting in motion a nightmarish chain of events that include unexplained body injuries, shaky walls, slamming doors and awkward sleepwalking.
Usually this setup is pretty flawed but for me it seemed to work. The acting was pulled off very well especially by the kids. Usually kids are the weakest link in movies like this but you can tell they were directed right and there are a few times where you can't tell if they are acting or if they were actually scared shitless. Also, this film is not caked over with bullshit CGI and "jump" scenes. You can tell there was a planned and careful consideration for certain shots to really get the point across. There are scenes where theres really nothing going on on the screen but it becomes suggestive and infiltrates your mind, in turn creeping you the fuck out somehow. I gotta say I jumped in my chair a few times too which rarely happens to my old, jaded ass anymore. Plus the use of practical effects for once was just so much more fulfilling than the usual CGI jerkfest. Admittedly, theres a little CGI in this movie but I can count those moments on three fingers.
So with all that behind me, I'm a little weary to look back and I think that's a good thing because I honestly want to feel this way about a horror movie from time to time. The older I get, the less things can creep me out so I guess paying 10 bucks to see a movie to genuinely give me the creeps for once is just plain AWESOME. So please, take your girlfriend, boyfriend or if you're a dick, your kids to see this film and I guarantee even if you aren't a fan of this watered down genre, you'll leave entertained in one way or another.
I'm giving this movie 8.5 out of 10!
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