Movie Review: The Conjuring (2013)

The Conjuring is a very solid horror movie. It has many of the trappings of lesser modern horror movies, but it’s still much better made. James Wan really knows what he’s doing with this kind of material, and I think this is his best movie to date.

We’ve all seen movies like this. A family moves into a house and beings experiencing bizarre, creepy stuff. What the movie makes up for in its lack of originality, however, is its good direction, editing, and cinematography. It’s shot very well. I think the movie’s shot composition does as much to create a sense of dread as the actual supernatural elements that you see. The camera is almost constantly moving, in a way that makes you feel very uncomfortable as a viewer.

The cast is also quite good. I wouldn’t say it’s the best aspect of the movie, but Lily Taylor, Patrick Wilson, and Vera Farmiga all give strong performances.

The movie has plenty of jump scares, but there’s proper buildup to them that makes them feel satisfying. There aren’t a whole lot of false jump scares, which may be the most irritating cliche in all of modern horror movies. So while it has some cliches, the cliches are handled about as well as they can be.

It’s really a very well made movie of familiar material. I’d like to see James Wan work with more unique material. I suppose he did with Saw, but he’s such a better and more talented filmmaker now than he was back then.

Rating: 7/10