I just watched The Conjuring last night which was treated to me by one of my friends,but before I saw it last night in the cinema,I have seen this 4 times already via online streaming.I promised myself though to not make a review for this until I see it properly in theaters or original DVD.Thankfully,I was able to see it last night in theaters thanks to one of my friends.So here it is now,my review for The Conjuring.But before I start this review,I'll give away few details regarding the film.The Conjuring is a supernatural horror movie directed by James Wan (Insidious/Saw) and stars Vera Farmiga (Orphan/TV's Bates Motel),Patrick Wilson (Insidious/Watchmen),Lilli Taylor (TV's Six Feet Under/The Haunting) and Ron Livingston.
One last thing,before we start this review up,here are the factors that would make this a film review:
>Story/Plot
>Acting/Performances
>Miscellaneous
>Direction/Director's Effort
So,without further adieu,let's begin.
Story/Plot:
You may see in marketing materials that The Conjuring is based on the true case files of The Warrens,well it really is.And the film is really hard to believe that it is based on true events for those events were disturbing and devastating.Just in case you don't know,The Conjuring tells the real life events of paranormal investigators Ed & Lorraine Warren and their investigation of a family's dark,mysterious farmhouse wherein they feel terrorized.So okay,the plot sounds familiar but it's a nice thing how the screenwriters were able to tell the story effectively despite the redundance of plot.But on the other side,this is a true story anyway and the events seen on film are devastating enough to be seen in real life.For those who are wondering if the Annabelle doll has massive effect in the film's story,well it really doesn't.It only appeared in the opening scene of the film to introduce Ed & Lorraine Warren and their earlier cases.The film's story is somewhat flawed whether it is about the film's plot redundancy,the happy ending and more.But regarding the people ranting about the happy ending,I disagree with 'em.Even though this is a dark horror movie,it doesn't mean it should have an ending where everyone dies and such.I thought that the ending was relieving since it was disturbing to see the family getting terrorized and shit.The ending was in fact,a breath of fresh air from all the scary shit that happened all throughout the film.Well,that's just my opinion.For those who thought that the plot is redundant,I agree and you got a point due to the fact this is indeed is another haunted house movie only this was crafted much better than any of the PA movies nor Mama.But like I've been saying moments ago,this is a true story and the haunted horror movie tropes are unavoidable in terms of it being repetitive again in this film.Well,I'm just glad that the screenwriters chose a new case not the never-ending Amityville case that has been made into films to the death.The Conjuring's plot may be very familiar,but at least it succeeds in making it work well.I just have to say that the screenwriters did an excellent job in adapting another real life devastating supernatural case that does not regard the Amityville into a film.
Acting/Performances:
All I could say about The Conjuring's acting,is that the cast's performances were pretty good, not great but still outstanding.My favorite performance in the film perhaps was Lilli Taylor's.I thought that she had nice acting in playing the mother,specially during the times when she gets into weird situations such as her falling off the stairs heading straight to the cellar then she lights a match and the match starts to flick off when someone or something clapped.Her facial expression was just priceless,she looked authentically scared and clueless.But I loved her acting even more when her character got possessed.It seems like she researched The Exorcist really well 'cause she sorta had that Regan MacNeil feel to her performance in that said scene.Nonetheless,her performance was pretty good,and I would like to give her a thumbs up.For Vera Farmiga & Patrick Wilson,I thought they were both quite decent in their acting,plus their characters were interesting.Specially Vera's.I thought that her character is interesting noting that she was a clarevoyant.As for Patrick Wilson's he did well too but I just felt that his character had a role reversal from Insidious.Instead of him being the main character who gets haunted,he gets to play one of the paranormal investigators.But all the while,their duo was good.It was fun to see them onscreen.For the child actresses in the film,their performance was pretty good.My favorite child performance would be from Joey King.Her acting was pretty nice and applausable in the scene where the door slams shut.She felt all creepy and added more thrill to that scene.All I could say about The Conjuring's performances is that while some dialogue in the film are very generic in other horror films,the actors were still able to show off their acting skills neatly thus all did good a job in playing their respective roles.
Miscellaneous:
The Conjuring is particularly set in the early 70s and the cinematography,music,set design and everything else made it feel so 70s.The cinematography got me hooked,it was really beautiful and so is the lighting.It was as if the film was filtered to look like a 70s horror film.The result was a beautifully creepy color tone to the film.Also one of the contributing factors of what made the movie great was of course,the music.Joseph Bishara's score was very eerie which added intensity and scariness to the film.The set design was very 70s.From the farmhouse to the furniture.Everything was so old school cool.And yeah,that cellar might be one of the most reminding bits of the film.That cellar was so freakin' creepy.Thumbs up to the set designers for designing that.Some thought that The Conjuring was another ol' haunted horror house movie with generic plot and everything else but for me,I look at it as two things: a haunted house horror movie and also a kind of a tribute to 70s horror films.Since the film was loosely based on the true story,they must've had to add/replace some things from the true story.What I'm getting at here is that,the film borrowed huge elements from 70s horror movies such as The Exorcist,The Amityville,etc.The result was great,and still effective regarding scares.Particularly the entire possession thing and all the other creepy stuff this film was stuffed with.The Conjuring's vibe and atmosphere was dim to dark.Dim when the film opens but as the film progresses,it just gets darker and darker.Which is also one of the main reasons that made me love it.The atmosphere will get you hooked and once you're hooked,you may never get out.The dark atmosphere of the film will latch onto you until the credits roll.Speaking of the credits,the end credits played in silence which made it also creepy.So if you're asking if the film is scary,my answer would definitely be yes.It is both scary and terrifying.You won't be disappointed.
Direction/Director's Effort:
Overall:
Despite borrowing from the playbooks of 70s horror films,The Conjuring still delivers effective scares and thrills on its' own.It's a worthy cinematic experience that will make you jump out of your seat a few times.It's definitely a must see specially for horror movie lovers and might also be one of the best films of this year so far.Two thumbs up to James Wan.
The Conjuring gets 7.8 over 10 stars.
*The Conjuring is still playing in selected theaters nationwide distributed theatrically by Warner Bros. Pictures (Philippines) and rated R-13 by the MTRCB.
**Catch James Wan's next horror film Insidious Chapter 2.Opens Sept.18 to be theatrically distributed by Columbia Pictures Philippines.
***Want more horror films? Check out Evil Dead (2013),The Shining,The Exorcist,Poltergeist,A Nightmare On Elm Street and Mama.All available to own on DVD distributed by Magnavision Home Video.
For now,why not check out this clip from The Conjuring?
Video clip courtesy of Warner Bros.Pictures & Movieclips.com.All rights reserved.
That's it folks! Stay tuned for my next FilmReview.Thanks for reading and have a nice day.
*The Conjuring.TM 2013 Warner Bros.Pictures*
No comments:
Post a Comment