Movie Review: The Conjuring (2013)

I've had a couple different readers now make the comment to me that they wanted to know what I thought about The Conjuring and said I should do a review. I actually did see the movie when it was first released many months ago, but I didn't do a review then for some ridiculous reason. Now I've rented it again and my feeling is still the same as that first creepy time in the theater. You all know I love ghosts, so fo' sho', I was all over The Conjuring.

In 1971, Roger and Carolyn Perron move their five daughters into what is seemingly the perfect house in the country. But ever-escalating strange and scary occurrences lead them to believe that a very dark spirit haunts their land, and they bring in renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to help rid them of this evil presence before it is too late.

On my first go-round with The Conjuring, I actually missed most of the beginning of the film with the Annabelle story because whoever was driving got us there late. So instead of safe in a theater with 100 other people, I had to first experience the creepiness of the Annabelle doll by myself at home. Why do people (especially James Wan, who seems to have a strange obsession with dolls) need to keep reminding us that dolls are terrifying? We know this. But anyway, there's some good stuff in this scene and though it doesn't have much, if anything, to do with the main story, it was a good way to introduce the film and set the tone. I also loved that wonderful swelling music at the beginning, and how the title scrolled on the screen - big as life - after the text background information on the Warrens.

One thing I really liked about the movie is that it dually told from both perspectives of the people in the Perron family and the Warrens. Ed and Lorraine are just as interesting characters (and real life people) as the Perrons, so it was nice to see some of what they were really like as people away from their job. This also let the audience know that they were serious about what they do and not in any way fakes or charlatans. Perfectly cast as Ed and Lorraine are Patrick Wilson - one of my favorites ever since Hard Candy - and Vera Farmiga. Roger and Carolyn are played by Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor, and though each of the daughters gets a little moment in the spotlight, it's hard to keep them all straight, either character-wise or actor-wise. Let's just say they're all good. I like them. In a movie like this, I think the acting is always really key, and knowing that all these people were hired for their talent and their ability to actually play these real people instead of for their looks or current popularity was wonderful to see.

James Wan's direction is the main reason for the film being so successful at the spooky parts. Wan knows exactly where to put the camera in each scene to get maximum results from the audience, and how long to hold a shot before finally delivering the scare. Some stand-out sequences I have to mention are things like the fat woman holding Rory in cellar where her face is just out of focus; the extremely creepy shot of the hands coming out from between the clothes in the closet and clapping; and the scene that scared the ever-loving shit out of me - when the clapping hands appear next to Carolyn's face out of the dark. I also really enjoyed Wan's use of camera movement here. There are a couple of great zoom shots, and one really perfect sequence where the camera shot is upside down to match the POV of the girl looking under her bed, and then the camera flips up and around with her as she gets up. Really nice to see a director actually use some of those unconventional moves to keep things interesting.

On my second viewing, though, I still didn't like the ending. After all the craziness of the climactic scene and the wreckage of this awesome house, I was again left with a heavy feeling of "that's it?". When Carolyn is stopped from killing her daughter by remembering how much she loves them all and then pukes out the spirit of Bathsheba, it was really touching and a good moment, but I had to think: did that really get rid of the spirit forever? It just felt like things were taken care of a little bit too easily and like the demon wasn't really exorcised or whatever. I'm no professional ghost hunter, though, so I could be wrong.

Touted by many movie-goers as one of or the scariest film(s) ever made, The Conjuring was not only a huge financial success, but also one that actually delivered the goods it promised. I think it respectfully portrays part of the real story of the Warrens while still doing its job of being creepy and unsettling. And with a sequel and a spinoff movie on the way, we'll see if lightning can strike three times.

Saw is NOT overrated

I'd like you to take a journey with me, if you will. We're going to go back in time, but don't worry, we won't be gone that long. We're going to 2004 specifically. Why 2004, you say? Because that is when the first Saw film came to theaters and helped define horror for the new generation.

This is the poster I have and it's AWESOME.

With a new Saw film coming out every year, people have forgotten a time before Saw, a time when this was a truly original horror film to behold. The many sequels, some good and some bad, have somewhat bastardized the series and the oversaturation in the media has led many to come to the conclusion that Saw (the original) is that most horrible word - OVERRATED.

No. It's not.

It may have just not been your cup of tea, but you cannot doubt the originality and effectiveness of the first film, as a horror film and as a sort of thriller-mystery.

I remember the time before Saw came out - I remember seeing the trailers on TV for this new horror film and getting more and more excited to see it, despite not really knowing much about it. The only indication of the plot, really, from the trailers was Cary Elwes' line, "He doesn't want us to cut through our chains, he wants us to cut through our feet." That line alone was enough to get me into the theater. The concept of the film seemed so different; you had to wonder where a story with that kind of premise could go.

Cary Elwes rules. And I think he knows it. Cocky bastard.

I remember the experience of sitting in the theatre and watching Saw. I went to see it with my friend Katie (hi, Katie) and I think we both saw ourselves as smart movie watchers. But this movie, for lack of a better phrase, had us both by the balls. We were squirming in our seats, talking to the screen, and had to pick our jaws up off the floor at the end. I distinctly remember as the screen goes black at the end, and you can still hear Adam's screams from the bathroom, Katie and I both turned to each other slowly with the exact same expression of shock on our faces. We were both prompting Monica Potter's character to kill Zep - actually saying, out loud in the theater, "Shoot him. SHOOT. HIM!" Very uncharacteristic, especially for me. And the scene where Adam is using his camera as a flashlight in his apartment? Oh, gosh, I about jumped out of my seat. Zep standing over the little girl on the bed covered in a bed sheet? Intensely creepy, and freaked me the fuck out.

The point is: I don't have physical reactions like this to movies, even horror movies, very often. Whatever it was that made Saw different, it had me. How did this movie work so well? Even looking back on it (several thousand times), I can't see what it was. Nothing can compare to that first time I saw it and that is why I still love it to this day. Horror films have to work on first impression and that is often how I judge them. My first impression of this film was better than any other horror film I had seen in a long time.

I asked Katie, the friend who saw Saw with me at the theater, if she remembered the experience. Somehow, I knew she would. I find out now that she's not a particularly big horror fan, but she wanted to see this movie, too. Here's what she had to say: "I remember being repulsed by both the film's gore and Jigsaw's sadism while simultaneously being fascinated by the whole experience's creepiness and horror. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't: The movie had me in its grip as an effective thriller."

Leigh Whannell and James Wan

As a wannabe filmmaker, I am also awed and inspired by the success of Saw. James Wan and Leigh Whannell were two first-time filmmakers from Australia. Leigh wrote the film (the story came from both of them) and James directed, with Leigh also starring in it, playing Adam. It was independent, fairly low budget, and shot in 18 days. I had no idea of any of that at my first viewing. They could have told me it was a 20 million dollar movie and I probably would have believed it.

And now that movie has turned into arguably one of the biggest horror franchises. Think about this - Saw was their first movie and they never imagined that it would evolve beyond even the first film. Yet apparently their simple yet highly entertaining and effective story had room to grow. And grow and grow and grow. They got the core of the sequel from Shawnee Smith's (Amanda) one little line in Saw - "He helped me." This gave root to the idea of Jigsaw's apprentice(s) and how he is (was) able to build and carry out all traps whilst suffering from cancer. And James and Leigh went from two nobody filmmakers to the hot topic of the horror industry.

Leigh in the jawtrap; from the scene
shot before the script was sold.

So in a way, this movie gives me hope. Leigh and James (I think it was mostly Leigh's writing, though) spent a long time working on the script - and not just the cool traps that are the center of the movies nowadays, but getting the story and the characters and those now iconic scenes right so that it would make, as Katie says, an effective thriller. And when they brought their script to America to sell it and get the money to do it right, they had people that were hella interested in it. They even shot a scene from the movie to show producers what kind of style they were going after. Smart budgeting and scheduling allowed them to get top-notch talent like Cary Elwes, Monica Potter, and Danny Glover. And now the movie is already in horror film history. It can happen, people. Those with the determination and the talent can make things happen for themselves, a concept that is pretty foreign to me right now. Still, thinking about what happened with Saw, and other films by first-time filmmakers, does give me that little glimmer of hope.

Billy, the famous Saw puppet, built
by James Wan

Is Saw perfect? Looking back on it now, with my very critical movie eye - perhaps not. Yeah, it's got plot holes (I looked up people's negative reviews of Saw and what a lot of them saw as "plot holes" were in fact not plot holes - learn the definition, dipshits) and the characters do dumb things sometimes, but that's only when you really nitpick the movie. As aforementioned, horror films have to work on a visceral level - if your guts and your body tell you that it's freaking you out, then it's GOOD. And my guts told me that Saw was one of the best damn things to happen to horror in a long time. I can't say the same for all the sequels; however, I am still amazed and how far they have taken a story that was never intended to make it past the first installment. It's unreal.

I will always be a Saw lover and supporter no matter how many sequels (hopefully, number 7 will be the last... I love Jill Tuck!) and copycats come out. It was the right film that came out at the right time and gave horror fans a dose of what they have been missing. And the blood hasn't stopped running since.