REVIEW: Conjuring

Director James Wan made a name for himself with the low-budget, high concept horror film, Saw, a movie that kicked off a massive franchise.  From there, Wan teamed up with Saw scriptwriter Leigh Whannell (who has grown into a very talented director as well) in a movie that I couldn't stand called Dead Silence.  From there it was Insidious, a second hugely popular franchise created by Wan and Whannell.  In 2013, Wan worked with different writers, Chad and Carey Hayes, on a 'based on real life' film, The Conjuring.  The resultant product nailed it with both critics (86% on Rotten Tomatoes) and fans, making $320 million world wide on a budget of just $20 million.

Landmark movies are easy to spot, whether you like them or not.  I saw Paranormal Activity in theatres, and, as much as I didn't enjoy it, it was undeniable that the audience was enraptured and that movies would be changed going forward.  Seeing The Conjuring in theatres, the audience experience was so different.  While in Paranormal Activity the scenes only were constructed to lead to a moment that would make the audience jump, The Conjuring gripped people in a different way.  It was through old school story telling that viewers were being immersed.  This appreciation was echoed in the box office.  Paranormal Activity, the financial juggernaut of a franchise, tallied up $890 million world wide from six movies.  The 'shared universe' that was created from The Conjuring has racked up $1.5 billion from five movies.

What I would pick as Wan's greatest strength is the fact that you can easily tell that he learns from his movies and works to tighten elements up and further explore compelling ideas.  When he got to The Conjuring, as mentioned above, there was a sense of old school story telling, something that was quite fresh in a time of the poorly premised found footage films that were all over the place.  A downside to calling on the old school was the fact that there is a scene at the beginning of the movie when a family is moving into an old house where the dog refuses to enter.  Mild spoiler, but the moment a horror fan saw that scene they knew that the dog would later be found dead, probably by a young child that would scream.  Other tropes include a child talking to an invisible ghost that wants to be their friend and a haunted trinket.  At least there are no birds flying into things without explanation.  Oh, wait...

The story is about a family with five kids that find themselves living in a haunted house.  Lili Taylor plays the mother, Carolyn, and Ron Livingston plays the father, Roger.  In an attempt to find relief from the pestering of the dark spirit, real life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren are called upon.  Take these people with a big ol' grain of pink Himalayan salt, as they 'investigated' the famous Amityville house and said it was truly haunted, even though it came out that it was nothing but a hoax devised over wine.

However, be them snake oil salespeople or not, Wan and the Hayes siblings are smart enough to know that these characters are going to be key in how the audience accepts the movie as a whole.  There are scares, but then there is also the art of making everything mean something as an entire package.  Paranormal Activity made the entire audience jump, but, from the people I have talked to, it failed to make them really connect with the story.  Wan knows that the Warrens are important, and he crafts them as people who are likeable, who care deeply about others, but who also have learned that there is a line in the sand (sorry for the cliche) that they can no longer cross.  This is the backbone of the film, as they desire to help, but the repercussions could be massive.  All of this is developed even more-so in the The Conjuring 2, which I feel is a much stronger movie.

Playing the Warrens are the incredible Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson.  It is clear that they really care about the characters they are portraying, and they slip into their skin with finesse and ease.  They are relatable, and it is easy to feel the impact of the decisions they must make.  The casting here is so brilliant, giving a grounded connection to the audience.

It is because there is an actual story to care about that makes The Conjuring really stand out from others of its time.  There were so many atrocious movies that really didn't care about their overall stories, much less their leads.  Things aren't necessarily deep and reflective in this film, but it just goes to show the difference that caring about the entire product can do.

The Conjuring really felt like James Wan's scariest film when it came out.  As I said, it is clear that he grows and learns from each project, and the spoils of that culminate in The Conjuring (and even much more in the sequel).  In the film, we do have some jump scares, but there are also many moments where it is all about the build and the atmosphere.  The house itself is a character, and not utilizing the location is a fault more common than you would imagine.

This was supposed to be Wan's final horror.  He had moved on to direct the box office Goliath Furious Seven, but he couldn't stay away for long.  It is clear that this is in his blood, and it is something that he is undeniably successful at.  How many other directors have created three mega hit franchises?  Those franchises alone, forgetting the $1.5 billion from Wan's Furious Seven, have made over $3 billion.  James Wan knows how to connect with audiences, and I couldn't be more excited about his upcoming Aquaman.  I know that movie's going to do well.

You may look at my rating of three stars for this movie and think that it shouldn't be considered a classic.  The Conjuring gave us something to care about in a time when story telling was beyond secondary to jump scares.  It used atmosphere, and it reminded audiences that there was so much more to the movie experience.   It could never be said that it didn't leave a massive impact on the entire horror landscape.  It isn't deep, it isn't insightful, but it is joyous fun, and the mark that it left on popular cinema was a positive one.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: The Conjuring 2

I will start this by saying that I enjoyed the first Conjuring.  It should be taken with a grain of salt, though.  It was a decent horror film that ended up switching tones and going for the ultimate in chaotic once the third act came around.  Director James Wan said it was his last horror film, but ultimately he could not stay away and returned for this summer's sequel.  If what we have been given in 2016 in the way of sequels is a trend, it would be believed that The Conjuring 2 would be without soul and just a reason to put out a film with a recognizable name.

Luckily, however, there is plenty of heart and soul to be found in this paranormal caper.  It follows the ghost investigating husband and wife team of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they come off the case of the Amityville haunting.  This is based off of actual people, and there was an actual Amityville case, but, truth be told, it was one giant hoax.  That doesn't stop it, and the fictional house that symbolized it in the 1977 film, from being used in cinematic tales of ghosts to this day.  After investigating the case at Amityville they decide to hang up the gloves, only to be drawn in one last time, heading to London to deal with a family that has been tormented by an evil spirit.

Wilson and Farmiga reprise their roles in terrific fashion, with a true chemistry between the two.  In a way, this is a story about their love for each other as much as it is about the case of the haunted house.  We get enough back story into their relationship to understand both their caring and concerns for each other.  Solid relationships that the audience can believe in are paramount to every film, and The Conjuring 2 manages to pull this one off.

Knowing the current state of haunted house horror films, it is easy to go into this movie and believe that everything will be solely about the jump scares.  The first Conjuring laid heavy on them, but Wan showed a crafty ability to keep them from being too predictable.  This time around they are a little easier to anticipate, but there is a greater detail paid to the atmosphere and the story.

The first half of the film builds on the tension of these jump scares that the Hodgson family is dealing with.  Poor folks can't get a decent night's sleep without jumping at a scare.  There were audience members who were jumping as well, but, as mentioned, they were easily spotted.  Once the movie entered the halfway mark, it was less about this and more about the narrative, turning it from a startling horror into more of a thriller.  In a number of ways, this format was similar to Insidious Chapter 3, which turned out to be a very fun ride.

Paying more attention to the characters and the story elevates The Conjuring 2 above what my expectations were.  We are treated to a well cast company of actors, anchored by the young Madison Wolfe who plays a child who is most afflicted by the paranormal baddy.  There are four people with screenplay credits, which can usually mean a film feels disjointed along the way.  Not so here, as it is competent for being a summer horror film.

Keeping it from being great is the aforementioned predictability of the scares.  But for those who have not seen nearly as many horror films as I, it should still prove to be frightful.  The characters are great, the relationships are believable, and Wan shows his slickness with the camera attention to set details.  There are so many failed sequels this year, but The Conjuring 2 does not rank among them.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars

Insidious

Today, for the most part, was a very good Friday, with the exception of a stupid anxiety attack that I am still reeling from.  It was brought on simply by my wife pestering me via tickles, and I guess the repetition of it (or something) made the anxiety put down its coffee and head to work.  If you have not dealt with it before, it may seem strange that it comes out of nowhere like that.  Actually, it is strange.  It is strange and stupid.  I am not a fan of anxiety and the effects that it has on my life.  Because of that, I am ditching reviewing Captain Phillips for today and am instead going to review a movie that I perhaps find strange, bewildering, and has caused ill effects on my life.

The movie is Insidious, and it stars Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson and was directed by James Wan.  Some people praise Wan, some are opposed to him and I think I land right in the middle.  I believe he has the ability to use interesting concepts and set mood well (at times), but also has the failings of reverting to the same images in multiple movies and having incoherent scenes.  When he is focused and on task he is a very talented story teller, but when he is unrestrained he can cause a great deal of pain (the perfect example of this is the third act of Insidious).

The movie is about a young family who moves into a new house (a big old house, to be exact) with the father working as a teacher and the mother staying at home with three young boys and trying to get her music career some traction.  The story takes a turn for the eerie when the youngest boy ends up in a coma and supernatural occurrences start to haunt the mother.  The father is a skeptic, of course, because every movie by Blumhouse Productions (the company that produced this movie, Paranormal Activity ) needs to have skeptics who don't seem to pay attention to what is going on.  In one movie of theirs, all of a sudden the skeptic became a believer and the believer became a skeptic... that wasn't nauseating at all.

What we end up having with the plot is almost a modern re-telling of Poltergeist as the child was trapped in another realm, with his physical body still in this one.  This was what I liked the most about the movie as it is different than the typical haunted house movie and could allow for some imagination to flow.  Unfortunately, the ending (which I referenced above) threw away all of the potential that it had at its disposal and ended up being a literal haunted house.  So ultimately, what I liked about the movie was later slaughtered by the same people who brought it to life.

There will be a lot of people out there who sing the praises of this film, as it got a decent following and spawned a very successful sequel.  What I was left with, was just annoyance.  I was annoyed at how people cease to act like real people and only do things that will push the plot.  I was annoyed that the main baddie looked like a cross between Darth Maul and one of those silly little trolls that people bring to Bingo to help them claim the pot.  I was annoyed at the potential that was wasted when the movie devolved into typical horror.  I was appalled at the end.  I don't know who thought going the direction they did was a good idea.

The movie could be very distracting, with random visuals that don't have any place in the greater narrative, or abrupt and cutting music.  The very first scene of the movie leads into the title sequence with some of the most obnoxious 'scary' music I have heard.  This immediately shook me from the movie, and any time I was feeling the film's vibe, the music was sure to pull me out.  This is an aspect of the unrestrained Wan that I have a hard time with.  Everything just feels so abrupt and chaotic that it is hard to find an actual horror tone.

I just found a cat hair in my nose... wow, that was surreal.

To tell you the truth, the best thing that Insidious ever did for me was help me get through the tail end of my anxiety attack by giving me something that I am passionate to write about.  The first time I saw Insidious I was thrown into a frenzy of disdain, but the second time left me with a little more affection.  Perhaps it is growing on me.  Not all things that grow on you are good, though.  That is important for us to remember.

Rating - 1 out of 4 stars