Scary movies are my least favorite genre. I see one every 5-10 years in the theater. I just went got back from The Conjuring. Don't let my B+ grade fool you. If I were a fan of the genre, it would be an A. There's only one film that scared me more than this one, and that's The Blair Witch Project (at the time, I loved camping, was a bit afraid of the dark, and lived in my parents basement. You can see where I'd have trouble.)

The acting for this genre is phenomenal. The camera work is excellent. The scares are well set up and you actually care about the people involved. This is going to have amazing WOM. I would not be surprised at a Friday to Saturday increase, which is almost unheard of for this genre in the summer nowadays. I wouldn't be shocked if WOM drove this to 40M this weekend.

My favorite response from a fellow moviegoer tonight was about half way through the movie.

Woman gets up and leaves, on the way out talking loudly to herself "Holy shit. I'm going to have nightmare forever."

... well colored me confused. I wasn't impressed at all. Then again, horror isn't my thing so I guess.

The Conjuring doesn't set out to re-invent the wheel, it's just an unusually robust and precise haunted house yarn. You've seen it all before, just rarely this precise. As in Insidious, Jame Wan immediately establishes his spooky bonafides with a creepy introduction before setting into first gear and letting the tension gradually build (the first teaser, which appears to be one extended scene from the movie, is in fact several early scenes stitched together). While there are some genuinely frightening jump scares, anyone whose seen Sinister, Insidious, The Possession, Mama, Paranormal Activity 1-8 or any other haunted house movie may have their frights neutered by familiarity. After all even though The Conjuring is batting above average there is very little The Conjuring does that has not been done before.
While The Conjuring bats above average in most respects, what stood out to me was the fluid camerawork. James Wan's films have often had creative angles, but here he pushes towards long, extended shots that up the dread by also frequently being POV shots. The four adult leads (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmigila, Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston) are all in fine form with roles that give them varying amounts to do, with Vera Farmigila standing out as the clairvoyant Lorraine Warren. Her piercing blue eyes evoke fear, sympathy and curiosity at once. Much like Orphan, she elevates the material to the point of almost forcing the audience to take the silly scares more seriously.

B+

Just like any other of the haunted house/family movies (where of course belief in the Christian God is necessary for success). How frightening.

Not a single thing that happened here was surprising or unexpected. When people put effort into the performances and direction like this only to shrug their shoulders when it comes the script with a nice big "good enough" I dislike it more than if it were just another horror cash-in.

Also, I could go without ever seeing another "based on a true story" at the start of a horror movie (or any movie, really). It's such a completely desperate BE SCARED!!! THESE THINGS HAPPEN!!! MAYBE YOU'RE NEXT!!!!! tactic. If a movie just opened with that text I'd have slightly more respect for the honesty on display.

To be honest, I never found this frightening (the scariest parts of, for instance, last year's Sinister are far more haunting), but it is still a fine film. A talented cast, including a courageous Lili Taylor, is an invaluable bonus because they infuse the anxieties and longings of their characters with an authentic, convincing depth one does always find in such fare. From first frame to last, I believed in the dynamic of both families as they face a supernatural threat. There is also a high level of craftsmanship on display; the shot compositions are dramatic and elegant and intensify the sense of isolation and slowly emerging menace. The engaging performances and overall technical expertise largely compensate when the storyline goes down predictable or thinly conceived routes.

B

Didn't the trailer say, "IT'S NOT A HAUNTING! IT'S NOT A POSSESSION!"? Liars.

I was a bit annoyed by the introduction of witchcraft and witch trials into the mythology since the film does not question the hysteria centric political or sexual components of this part of history in any way, the way Rob Zombie did in The Lords of Salem a few months ago. Here it is just, "Oh, she was one of those Salem witch types. She sacrificed her baby to PLEASE SATAN and cursed the land!"

Well I thought it was scary.

The scene with the dead girl on top of the dresser jumping down to the floor took at least 10 years off my life. And that was in the trailer.

I found the scene with Farmiga and Wilson's daughter encountering the demon/ghost to be the scariest.

The quote at the end is a bit groan inducing.

The hands clapping next to Lily Taylor made me jump out of my seat and I've seen the first trailer at least half a dozen times. Something about the timing was different.

Yeah, a lot of the trailer scares just seemed to work so much better in the movie. Rarely happens that way where you know it's coming and it's still effective.

The scene with the police officer and the maid was pretty scary too, I thought.

It's well shot/made and the performances are solid, but sad to say I just didn't find this that scary. I mean the first half alone is mostly EVERY scare shown in the trailers which kind of pissed me off a bit, but I understand that's how they have to sell it.

The third act was much better though. I liked when they actually started investigating and the stuff with the doll was creepy as fuck. I just wish they did more with it.

Also, am I the only one who thought that Asian guy was James Wan at first ?

THE CONJURING

Oh, I got to see it tonight. The main auditorium at the time I was planning to see it was sold out at 2245. Seats like 550. Luckily, they opened up a smaller screen for the spillover and that sold out too. Let me say that this film had an audience that was ready and willing to be a part of the experience but I think it failed to deliver that experience. Certainly there were moments in the film the got a reaction but not enough of them and honestly it was just missing good delivery. The makeup for the demonic woman face just was been there done that. Can people not make a face look actually terrifying and haunting. I saw that face and I'm thinking of one of the witches in Hansel & Gretel. I did think the acting was fine in the film. The story flowed well and progressed but the total finality just didn't work for me. Levitating chair? Been there done that and the effect of it didn't translate well at all. Honestly, I had more of an experience with The Evil Dead than this film. I think even The Grudge, The Ring, and Sixth Sense. Maybe even Signs had better scare delivery than this film. Signs maybe even had a better payoff too. Anyway, it was total letdown. It just failed to meet expectations for me. So it will be just a B. The scariest bit however was The film really failed to take advantage of spooking the audience...smh.

Grade - B

As far as recent old-school haunted-house movies go, I believe The Woman in Black is easily superior to this.

This film is no doubt more mature and refined than Insidious, which loses its mind a bit with the New Nightmare style third act where Wilson has to save his son from Darth Maul, but Insidious is way, way cooler and scarier and more fun.

Aww man. I'd read it wasn't a supernatural horror movie that got preachy about religion for a change. Sucks if that's inaccurate. I mean obviously it will be brought up some, but I don't want to be beat over the head with it.

I still haven't seen TWIB, but I have to agree with Insidious being better than this. That had a better pacing, scares and I love the third act with Patrick Wilson going to the other side trying to save his son. The whole look and atmosphere of that world was just creepy as hell and I didn't even mind the corny Darth Maul demon, because it was so well done.

The ending was bleh, but the rest of the movie was pretty great. I wish we got more of that here instead of your typical demons and exorcisms route that we have already seen a hundred times before.

It is honestly very religious. For a mainstream supernatural genre movie. The Farmiga and Wilson characters are proper holy rollers. It completely invests in every, "Oh, let's put crosses around the house because this will upset the evil spirit" detail, without any of The Last Exorcism's sarcasm. It even ends with this quote from the man Patrick Wilson is playing saying how God and the Devil are real, and we need to choose a side, etc., etc.

Ugh!

You can believe that, but it's silly. THE WOMAN IN BLACK is nothing but a collection of silly, predictable jump scares.

I usually hate religious references in movies, but it didn't really bother me in this one (aside from the quote toward the end). It's not like they spend 10 minutes explaining the use of crosses and religious artifacts to upset the spirits. It spends like a minute showing him setting them around the house and he mentions it kind of pisses them off. Not a big deal.

If anything, while portraying the Warrens as very religious, which the were, it also portrays the church in a somewhat negative light seeing as though they are very reluctant to help someone with an exorcism who isn't a member of the church.

Yeah, it didn't even bother me really. Just the quote at the end.


I didn't find it terribly scary though it did have its creepy moments. It has a superb atmosphere. It's so well-made. The acting is great, especially from Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, and the girls playing the children, the directing is top-notch, the score is great, it's just really well-crafted. It's not something with a bunch of jump scares but instead more of a slow-burn horror film that works its way under your skin.

I had a great time watching this. Admired it throughout. The story in the beginning with the doll was creepy as hell. I would have loved an entire movie revolving around that story.

I'd give it a 9/10 (A-). I was torn between a 9/10 or 8/10. For most of the movie I was going to give it an A but honestly the finale wasn't as good as I expected.

I actually saw this twice over the weekend. This is a superbly crafted supernatural horror movie. I'd be lying if I said it scared me to death like some of the reviews seem to indicate it will, but there are quite a few very intense and frightening moments. The final half hour was genuinely scary and I was on the edge of my seat more than any other movie of this type during that segment - particularly the final sequence at the house and the moment with Warrens' daughter and the rocking chair. The scene with the maid too also scared the shit out of me :p But the lack of nonstop scares does not take away from how well-done this movie was. It successfully conveys a very specific mood and sense of dread from the first frame that makes it consistently involving, the atmosphere is perfect, visual effects are kept to a minimum, there was some inventive cinematography - I could go on. And that doesn't even cover the performances, which are all excellent. The four leads did a great job of making me care a lot about these characters and their family dynamic. I thought Lili Taylor was fantastic and Vera Farmiga steals the movie, much like she did in Orphan a few years ago. This is such a better movie in every way than James Wan's last directorial effort, the dire and laughable Insidious, that it is hard to believe they were actually made by the same person. Highly recommended. A-

I agree. Can't see what is supposed to be so good about it. C+.

I just find this whole shit about demons and psychics and exorcisms completely ridiculous. I didn't like The Exorcist either.

Not all that scary, I guess it requires a firm belief that all this stuff could happen to be truly scary. This is a very well made movie though. The build-up to the scares are top notch, some of the best I've seen. Those long tracking shots were brilliant. It kind of made me feel James Wan was being wasted on horror movies. Good thing he is graduating to the big leagues soon. I thought the best parts were with the doll near the end. I was actually expecting that and the main story to be separate demons. Imagine Nightowl and Vera coming back to their home, only to find the nanny dead and their daughter kidnapped! TWIST! Even though it was already really long, I would have gone with The Conjuring for another twenty minutes to see that play out.

So great tension building, good acting, great cinematography, good music, overall creepiness, but lack of true scares earn this a B+, slightly edging Mama as horror film of the year.

A+

The scariest movie I've seen in YEARS deserves an A+.

Also.. a girl passed out leaving the screen cuz she was too scared.