THE CONJURING – Summoning Up A Disturbingly Good Thriller!

I have never really been a huge fan of horror / suspense movies. Lately we have had so many hit our screens with ‘MAMA‘ and ‘EVIL DEAD‘ earlier in the year. The latter being good to start then being outright ridiculous with too much blood guts and gore that took away the premise of the movie. So I sit down to watch ‘The Conjuring‘ hoping for something good as it was getting good ratings overall.
 

It is based on the Warren family case files. Ed and Lorraine Warren are paranormal investigators and the story starts with them telling what has happened during one of their cases involving a ceramic doll.

We then move to the Perron case of 1971. Set in Harrisville, Rhode Island, and the Perron family are moving into their dilapidated farmhouse surrounded by a lake and woods – as well all know the ideal setting for a horror / suspense movie. As they move in their dog is the only one that will not set foot into the house and is left out over night. Strange goings on happen the first night in the house and the following morning they wake up to find the dog was killed in the night. Also all the clocks in the house have stopped at 03.07am.

Various paranormal activities happen to them over the next few days and nights. They find a basement that was boarded up during a game of hide and clap and in the morning Carolyn Perron seems to have bruises on her body and her husband asks her to seek medical attention.

Carolyn meets the Warrens after hearing them talk about their paranormal activity cases and mentions what has been happening in her house and asks them to take a look. Being a medium Lorraine feels something as she walks into the house and can see an evil spirit holding onto each of the family members. Lorraine finds one of the children playing with an old music box and she tells her about her friend who appears when she plays with the box.
 

 
During some research on the house’s history, Ed and Lorraine find out that an accused witch previously inhabited the house, and committed suicide and cursed all those who would take her land, before killing herself had proclaimed her love for Satan. The witch’s name was Beth Sheba. I don’t confess to knowing the bible from cover to cover but didn’t Bathsheba become the wife of King David, who made her commit adultery with him while her husband was at war? Apparently God was displeased, and her baby died soon after it was born. She is the mother of Solomon who later followed David to the throne.

Knowing this means you can piece a few parts of the story together. Not that anyone commits adultery but the part of the child dying sounds familiar.
 

 
An exorcism is the only thing that will rid the family of the spirit and the Warrens seek the help of the local priest at the Catholic Church. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worse and Ed has to perform the ritual instead. The film was nicely set up for a second at the end.
 

There are some tense moments in this film and the soundtrack plays out well too, really catching you at the edge of your seat making you settle down before throwing in something that makes you scream. This movie is great and full of suspense; it plays with your mind and makes you think things like this can happen to you. Never has a movie played with my mind like this and made me feel weird when I came out since I watched ‘SEVEN‘ in 1995.

I was pleased with the film that it didn’t rely on all that blood guts and gore and taking things to an extreme like the later ‘SAW‘ films, ‘Evil Dead‘ remake and ‘Cabin in the Woods‘ did. They start off with promise and end up being just too stupid that you know the films fate has just been ruined by those final rubbish scenes.
 

The Conjuring 4 out of 5 stars.

Good jumpy, suspense thriller with some superb performances especially from Lili Taylor – not a big cast of “well-knowns” and a decent sized budget for a Hollywood movie this will do well at the box office, make its money back and deserves to do so. It even took more in its open weekend than some of the big summer blockbusters!
 

Until next time, if you hear a floorboard creek or have old pipes in the property, rest assured that it is the elements playing with them, your house is not haunted. Or is it?

A summer must see!

‘You’re Next‘ and ‘Insidious 2‘ have still to come so let’s hope they are as good as this and better than earlier offerings of ‘Evil Dead‘ and ‘The Purge‘.

Reviewed By: Mark LEGOBear MacKenzie