THE CONJURING

[silversurfer2]

Posted: 7/15/13 at 4:14pm

It opens Friday. I can't wait to see this,just hope it's half as good as they Hype.
It's based on a True Life team of paranormal investigator's.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/15/13 at 4:23pm

A friend of mine caught a screening of this last week. He said while or wasn't the best or scariest thing he's ever seen, it was definitely worth checking out. I'll be there first thing on Friday morning.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/15/13 at 4:50pm

There haven't been nearly enough horror films lately with THE ____-ING in the title.

Oh...it's James Wan. Never mind.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/15/13 at 4:55pm

I love James Wan's horror movies. The first Saw was amazing. Insidious was really well done. Dead Silence is on my DVR and looks promising. I'm definitely seeing this.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/18/13 at 12:37pm

Dumb, right-wing, woman-hating and very scary

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/18/13 at 12:48pm

Here's an interesting interview where Wan is asked about the faith element in The Conjuring, particularly in response to the interviewer saying "I feel that if I choose to believe the Perron family's story as fact, I also feel that I have to accept the entire Catholic faith as fact, too."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/james-wan-the-conjuring_n_3596473.html

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/18/13 at 5:54pm

As a horror fan I appreciate that this has been rated R for being scary instead of gory. Makes me look forward to seeing it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/18/13 at 6:07pm

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 82% an for a horror movie that's pretty amazing.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 8:06am

Love the cast. I'm looking forward to this one.

Finally, a horror movie that isn't torture porn.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 8:23am

For what it's worth the original Saw was a very well made (and for better or worse very influential) horror film.

Despite being credited with birthing the torture porn sub-genre, there is actually very little gore. It's all jump cuts and grimy atmosphere. Wan is a master at making you think you're seeing more than you actually are.

I really enjoyed Insidious and I'm definitely seeing this one tonight!

[scott68]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 3:14pm

I saw it last night and enjoyed it a lot. It felt a bit retro (in approach, not just the period setting), but that was almost refreshing after some of the recent horror movies I've seen.

The acting is great, and the pacing is fantastic. It felt a bit referential at times, but overall the best genuinely scary movie I've seen in quite a while.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 3:54pm

I saw it this morning and thought it was great. The retro feel of the film was so fantastic and it started with almost the very first frame. So much of it has to do with cinematography and set design which really gave the feel you were watching a film made in the 70's. I guess I don't understand the films "R" rating and if I were to nitpick I could have done with a few more scares but overall it really was one of the most well done horror films in quite a while.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 4:58pm

I saw the midnight showing of it, and I thought it was one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. Granted, I don't watch a lot of scary movies. I thought the acting was very good, and I really enjoyed it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 5:09pm

Last night around 12:30 I was walking down the street and heard an old woman ask this young girl (maybe 8 years old or so) "Baby, why did you want me take you to see The Conjuring? You're gonna have nightmares for a month now. The devil got himself inside you!"

And I just wanted to say "Yeah, lady. That's the way to not make your granddaughter have nightmares - Tell her the devil's inside of her now.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 5:52pm

Saw it today and loved it. Has pretty much every haunted house movie cliche there is but excuted perfectly. Loved the nods to classics like Poltergeist and Amityville horror.
On a side note, after seeing the movie that article Botstal posted seems pretty ridiculous. Sounds like the author took the movie way too seriously.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 8:44pm

I had major issues with the film but still think it's worth seeing for haunted house horror fans. I probably went in knowing too much about the real story and expecting too much from a James Wan film not written by Lee Whannel. Saw, Dead Silence, and Insidious are his best films and they all were written by Whannel. Wan with other writers is a total grab bag.

There are good scares. The acting is very good for this genre. Some of the freaky camera movement to connect parallel scenes was mind-blowing. I liked the creature design and appreciated a religious horror film that didn't try to subvert the religious content to be edgier. No, this really is a husband and wife team of Catholic paranormal investigators working with the Catholic church to help people who can't help themselves.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 8:51pm

I liked Insidious too but thought this was better. I felt like this was James Wan at his best.
Does anyone really take the Warrens seriously?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 9:18pm

I think INSIDIOUS is his best film. That's honestly one of my favorite horror films in years and I'm beyond excited for the sequel (which they strangely didn't show a preview for before CONJURING).

[Becky]

Posted: 7/21/13 at 2:11am

Looking forward to INSIDIOUS 2 - first one was so well done - and they did show a preview of it before Conjuring here last night. Seemed fitting.

Thought the movie was very good, and I loved how Patrick Wilson tweeted a picture of himself with the "real" Annabelle doll which I actually found creepier than the movie version. Like others have said, the retro feel came off well.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/22/13 at 2:14pm

This opened at #1.

Haven't seen it yet, but it's nice to see a horror film make some bank.

[broadway86]

Posted: 7/22/13 at 3:05pm

Reviewed it on my blog, if anyone's interested :)

http://robbyhorror.blogspot.com/

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 12:23am

This is definitely one of the best horror movies I've seen in recent memory. Probably the best since The House of the Devil which also had a retro feel although 80's rather than 70's. I thought there were plenty of scares which were done by genuine tension rather than loud booms.

My only issue with the film was the final act. I thought it got a little over the top. This is based on a true story and I get that it's still a movie. The ridiculousness during the exorcism was a bit much for me and so far out of the realm of possibility.

Part of me thought that the Annabell doll was a horrifying image but it also looked a little silly. I would have been terrified if it was a whole Annabell movie. I'm guessing they didn't use the real doll because it looks like a Raggedy Ann doll.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 8:44am

This was a lot of fun. (Also, a perfect date movie – lots of grabbing and squealing.) But I long for a scary movie that sticks with me after I leave the cinema. I want to be sleeping with one eye open for a couple of nights after or at least think twice before going to sleep. The movie was tense, engaging, fairly well acted, and really well shot, but I forgot it all as soon as the credits rolled.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 9:08am

I agree that the final act gets a little crazy. But one of things I liked about the movie is the way the tension built. Things got crazier as the movie went on so by the end I was ready for it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 9:12am

The last horror film that really stuck with me into the night was THE STRANGERS. It really is my favorite horror film in the past ten years. The new movie YOU'RE NEXT seems to be along those same lines and I'm reeeeeally looking forward to that.