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The Conjuring
| Released |
2 August 2013 |
| Director |
James Wan |
Starring
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Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Joey King, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver, Sterling Jerins |
| Writer(s) |
Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes |
Producer(s)
|
Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran, Rob Cowan |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
112 minutes |
| Genre |
Horror, thriller |
| Rating |
15A |
|
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Period paranormal.
As the creator of the Saw franchise, Malaysian-Australian director James Wan ushered in a new genre of horror dubbed “torture porn” by various detractors. This stunningly violent sub-genre gave us both masterpieces in extremity (Martyrs) and films that were offensively exploitative and virtually without merit (Hostel/Hostel Part: III) – thus, Wan is also responsible for launching the careers of artless hacks like Eli Roth. By the time his own franchise had reached its seventh instalment the term was no longer profitable and Wan wisely reverted to psychological scare tactics with the hugely-successful Insidious in 2011. Following that film’s lead, his latest offering The Conjuring relies on old school tropes and suspense rather than gore to entertain its audience and it’s mostly successful, despite containing a veritable stockpile of horror clichés.
It’s the early seventies and All-American couple The Perrons (Taylor, Livingston) have just moved into an isolated Rhode Island farmhouse with their five daughters. It’s not long before various paranormal shenanigans begin to occur and after waking up with some mysterious bruises mother Carolyn seeks the help of Lorraine and Ed Warren (Farmiga, Wilson) noted demonologists and paranormal investigators. During the initial investigation, the pair discovers a cellar harbouring some dark secrets and conclude that the house requires an exorcism which cannot be performed without the authorisation of the Catholic Church. This however proves tricky as the Perrons aren’t exactly church-going folk – to the extent that the children haven’t been baptised.
The creepy retro vibe provides a nice setting, and Wan makes ample use of interesting cinematography throughout. Clever camera swirls and old school wide-shots keep us guessing as to where the scares will arrive from, while elsewhere the characters are well-cast and each given a degree of depth, making them feel more real than the average horror disposables.
Unfortunately, what is built up as a nostalgic homage to ‘70s horror soon becomes an exercise in voracious plagiarism - we’re left with a confused mishmash of scenes lifted from a myriad of films from different sub-genres in the most rote and unimaginative way possible. It’s a visual rehashing of everything we’ve seen before, from the mass avian suicide of The Birds to a séance scene directly swiped from The Exorcist. However, Wan ups the ante just enough to keep things entertaining for the most part and The Conjuring is perfectly passable summer fare, if not quite the onset of a supernatural horror Renaissance - and it should hold horror enthusiasts over until well-received invasion slasher You’re Next hits cinemas in a couple of weeks.
- Cathal Prendergast |
