Paranormal horror 'The Conjuring' is released today (19th July) in the USA but what do the early reviewers reckon to the James Wan-directed ghost story?
If you're not a fan of jump scares, stay well, well away from The Conjuring as the trailer presumably only gives a slight hint of what the latest James Wan scare-fest is serving up cold.
In true, clichéd horror movie style, there's an old, creaky house, a creepy doll, plinky-plonky nursery rhymes, whispering little girls and a protagonist who doesn't know better than to go into the cellar from which they just heard an unsettling noise.on their own...at night...with only a lit match for light. However, before you go and dismiss The Conjuring as "just another ghost film," remember that its strengths lie in its proudly worn 'true story' badge. The film is based on the reported events recorded by Andrea Perron in her novel House of Darkness, House of Light after her mother Carolyn and father Roger purchased their dream Rhode Island home in the early 70s but, after a string of unnerving incidents, find that the old house in inhabited by some very disturbed spirits indeed.
Vera Farmiga Plays One Of The Paranormal Investigators.
The film's certainly been a long time coming, with the seeds first planted in producer Tony DeRosa-Grund's head twenty years ago after he came across the tape of the interview between Carolyn and the two paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. He spent many years trying to get the movie made without success until 2009 when the film rights were locked in a six studio bidding war until New Line Cinema eventually prevailed.
Lili Taylor Plays Haunted Housewife Carolyn.
Rolling Stones' Peter Travers hails the film as "putting fresh fire into the overworked haunted-house genre," and gives it a true film reviewers accolade that "It scared the living crap out of [him]." The Hollywood Reporter's Sheri Linden goes more in depth into the strengths of the film, saying "With its minimal use of digital effects, its strong, sympathetic performances and ace design work, the pic harks back in themes and methods to The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror, not quite attaining the poignancy and depth of the former but far exceeding the latter in sheer cinematic beauty." Despite Indiewire noting that the film's themes feel too "familiar," Entertainment Weekly enjoys the "shocks that never feel cheap."
Patrick Wilson Helps Crank Up The Spooky In The Conjuring.
The trailer is purely terrifying with entire scenes of the R-rated film shown rather than the usual flashes of different scary moments and overlaid speech. The silence of the two clips is arresting, making it feel like you're watching the film itself rather than the advert. Have they given away too much? Who knows, but the trailer certainly leaves a lot of creepy questions unanswered...
Watch The Conjuring Trailer:
Every working day for the last ten years, insurance salesman Michael MacCauley has gotten the...
Continuing on from the 2013 hit, this sequel blends fact and fiction to follow real-life...
Not fazed by their previous experiences, Lorraine and Ed Warren are still successful paranormal investigators...
This generational drama strains so hard to be serious that it's almost laughable. Its big...
Hank Palmer is a ruthless but excellent lawyer, despised by many of his peers for...
It seems you can take a kid out of college but you can't take college...
Old-style filmmaking makes this movie scarier than other recent horror films, simply because director Wan...
When the Perron family of six move to a rural old farmhouse in New England,...
Ellis is probably the most normal member of his weird family. His mother, Wendy, is...
With a cool Cape Town setting and constant sweaty, kinetic violence, this entire film plays...
Matt Weston is a young CIA agent who, for the past year, has been bored...
Captain Colter Stevens is a respected soldier and is involved in a government project set...
This sleepy comedy is surprisingly entertaining as its plot twists and turns along the way,...
In Mark Herman's adaptation of John Boyne's controversial children's bestseller offering a kid's-eye view of...