“The Conjuring” movie review

Caitlin Williamson – Special to the Southern News

            As the theatre lights turned off, I looked behind me to see the fully packed audience waiting with anticipation. It was five dollar Tuesday, and everyone was ready to see the highly terrifying, based off a real life story movie, “The Conjuring,” directed by “Insidious,” “Insidious II,” and “Saw” creator, James Wan. The movie is set in Harrisville, R.I. in the 1970’s. The optimistic Perron family moves into the old farmhouse with dreams of a loving new home for their five daughters, but were immensely unprepared for what was to come. Filled with terrifying realities of their home being possessed by some greater demons who are trying to harm their family, Carolyn and Roger Perron, played by Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor, call in assistance to settle their nightmarish hell. Two wildly successful paranormal specialists, Lorraine and Ed Warren (played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) come to the families cries for help to find out the dark history behind this home; a cry for help they strongly underestimated.

            The movie images almost immediately filled the theatre with shrieks and gasps as the family’s hell unfolded in front of us. For myself, I am easily scared so majority of the screams were probably from my row. Movie reviews online supported my terror, however, such as “The Conjuring is home to some of the single most frightening haunted house scares ever committed to film,” from Screenrant.com. A typical hesitation for movie-goers with horror films is ‘will the movie actually be scary or just filled with corny ghosts made of old sheets and over the top explosions of ketchup bottles to mock blood?’ However, this movie should come with no second doubts as to whether or not this film will have you turning on every light in the house and running up your cellar stairs after switching the laundry!

            This horror film does not only include a terrifying plot and images, but is paired with phenomenal acting from the entire cast. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson steal the screen with their natural chemistry, as well as seemingly realistic confidence with their skills in the movie of investigating paranormal activity. The raw fear Farmiga expresses in one scene of the movie, flash backing to a previous and scarring paranormal investigation leaves you with the question, what did she see?  Wilson has starred in Wan’s eerie films before, “Insidious” and “Insidious II,” and continues to keep the audience on the edge of their seats while also stunning everyone with his bravery of wanting to discover the unknown. The terrified and tortured couple in the movie could not have been granted with better actors, giving the film a realistic tint to it. Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor portray the roles of the terrified and confused parents of their five daughters.

            This movie is a must see for anyone interested in a mind blowing twist and shock at the end, as well as nail-biting terror filled scenes. I’d rate the acting a nine out of 10 for the movie, as well as a 10 out of 10 for a successfully made horror film of our generation. Southern has had the actual Lorraine Warren come for many years now, to tell her audience about her years of working side by side with her husband on these cases. Stay posted to see upcoming events with her visit to Southern’s campus this semester, and go out and see The Conjuring!