The Conjuring

Cast:  Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lil Taylor, Ron Livingston, Shanley Caswell, Haley McFarland, Mackenzie Foy and Joey King.

Director: James Wan

Release Date: 2013

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 1hr 52 minutes

Rating: R

Format: Blu-Ray

Synopsis:

Set in 1971, Paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), work to help a family terrorized by a terrible presence in their farm house.

Ed and Lorraine Warren are real life paranormal investigators, in 1952, Ed and Lorraine founded the New England Society for psychic research, the oldest ghost hunting group in New England. They have investigated over 10,000 cases including The Amtyville Haunting and the Enfield Poltergeist. In 1971, the Perron family contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren because they were convinced their house was haunted. The Conjuring is based on that true story. Contrary to popular belief you do not have to watch "Annabelle" in order to understand this movie. They are two completely different stories. It supposedly happened a good 10 years before the Perron Family started to experience strange things in their house.

James Wan is a fantastic director, he's really started to prove himself too with hit movies like "Insidious" and "Furious 7" this movie is no different. This is by far one of the best horror movies out there. Knowing it was based on a true story, is pretty terrifying on it's own. The real Annabelle doll is locked away safe in a museum that is still to this day owned by Ed and Lorraine Warren. I do think it takes serious skill to make a horror movie and make it well, without it coming across as cheesy, or poor. A good horror movie is also made well when the storyline is written well. Chad and Carey Hayes wrote the storyline it is an extremely well written screenplay. Lorraine Warren also acted as consultant on this movie and claims what you see on screen is extremely accurate to the real events that occurred in 1971.

Casting also did a fantastic job because I honestly don't think they could have picked two better actors to play Ed and Lorraine Warren. I absolutely love Vera Farmiga, she's very recently played Norma Bates in "Bates Motel" and Patrick Wilson was in both "Insidious" films that was also directed by James Wan. I don't want to say that they are both type cast, but both are absolutely fantastic in this film and are very convincing. Lil Taylor is brilliant as Carolyn Perron, I would definitely recommend concentrating on her character through out this film. Great significance.

The cinematography is pretty awesome, the vast majority of the movie is filmed in the dark, but that doesn't mean the filmmakers haven't allowed the audience to see what is going on. Some movies are shot so dark, that you end up missing bits and it ends up being less enjoyable, however James Wan got the combination spot on, I'm more then convinced that a lot of the suspense and fear comes from clever lighting and photography. I remember watching this in the dark the year I received it for Christmas and being generally freaked out. I love how the camera follows characters, it doesn't really rely on jump scares. There's a lot of mystery to this film, that's where your fear will come from, not knowing what your're going to see next.

There aren't really any special effects as it were, but there are some truly awesome moments of photography, The set design is really cool, set in a gorgeous old Farmhouse,  it has a very 70's feel to it, the interior of the house doesn't really have any colour to it, leading it to seem even more spooky then it really is. Old fashioned furniture and dark rooms. One might say that is very typical when it comes to a horror movie? It's quite a secluded set really. It's a pretty impressive though.

I love the costume design for this film, I don't know how accurate Ed and Lorraine Warren's clothing in the movie is to what they actually wore in real life but it's gorgeous, either way what Lorraine is wearing really suits Vera Farmiga's character. Of course the family are all dressed in 70's styled clothing, it's supposed to be 1971, so of course they'd all be wearing the fashion of that time. That's what I love so much about Ed and Lorraine, their fashion is so unique and almost feels dated compared to the 70's fashion, don't take that the wrong way, it's not an insult, it almost shows the maturity of their characters.

I love the soundtrack in this movie, particularly the opening credits, damn, it just speak fear. It honestly has such a scary feel to it, it works perfectly alongside the storyline. I honestly can't explain it, you'd have to hear it to understand. It's definitely not something you'd want to listen to in your car put it that way. James Wan thought about every aspect of this film including the soundtrack. Gotta give him credit for that. There's even a song by Ryan Gosling on the soundtrack, definitely keep an ear out for that one!

I would definitely recommend this film to any horror film nut, and anyone else that loves really well made films. By far one of the best horror movies I have ever seen! Frightening!

Blu-Ray Special Features:

The Conjuring: Face to Face with fear: 

A six minute featurette with the real Perron family on what they really witnessed at their house.

A life in Demonology:

A small featurette on Ed and Lorraine Warren and how they've helped people over the years with ghost hunting, very fascinating if you are interested in the supernatural.

Behind the Scenes: Scaring the s*** out of you! 

A really cool behind the scenes featurette with James Wan and the actors. Unfortunately the featurettes aren't very long, but they are rather interesting.

5/5 stars