The Conjuring is my favorite horror movie of all time, and not just because it is scary. It has an incredible cast with two stellar leads.
James Wan is a skilled director that expertly utilizes tension. The plot is not rushed, and the jump scares are believable. It rightfully deserves a place among the likes of “The Shining” and “Halloween.” Â
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. In this film, they investigate the haunting of a family in a farmhouse by a malevolent entity. Wilson and Farmiga’s strengths in this film lie in their incredible chemistry as a married couple.
Ed and Lorraine are deeply in love and Wilson and Farmiga truly portray that throughout the film. As a viewer, it fills you with warmth to watch them interact so lovingly with each other.
This love for each other is shown even during the tense moments, with Ed being protective of Lorraine when she uses her clairvoyance to contact the entity and ends up falling through the floorboards into the basement.
Wilson and Farmiga shine during the film’s climax as they battle the spirit. Wilson shows Ed’s fierceness as he exorcises the demon from the body of the mother of the family. Farmiga shows her emotional range as she reaches for the mother’s soul using her clairvoyance. Â
A theme that is done well in this film is maternal love. The main ability of the entity to possess people stems from the entity possessing the mother to kill the child. When Farmiga’s Lorraine figures out the entity’s purpose, the entity goes after Lorraine and Ed’s daughter Judy.
The doll Annabelle, which is featured prominently in future “Conjuring” films, tries to attack Judy. This scene has a great jump scare that was directed perfectly by Wan. Farmiga plays a terrified mother well, a sheer contrast to her earlier personality in the film as the reassuring investigator.
The mother of the family, Carolyn Perron, is played by Lili Taylor. Taylor plays the maternal role well and has excellent tension-building skills as an actor. Her tension-building performance gives viewers one of the best jump scares of the whole film.
In order for a horror film to be interesting, the plot needs to be paced correctly. “The Conjuring” is not too fast and allows the reader to settle in. This is preferable for a horror film, which often succeeds when it provides background information before jumping straight into the action.
Wan presents this background information in the form of the Warrens giving a lecture on the paranormal. This allows the viewers to understand the basics of demonic possession before the characters even meet the demon antagonist of the film.
This lecture is then juxtaposed with the Perron’s idyllic move into their new home, lulling the viewer into a false sense of security that perhaps the danger will not be coming to the family after all. Great horror movies do this to get the viewers invested in the lives of the characters so that the viewers care about their potential outcomes, whether that be their eventual survival or demise. Â
“The Conjuring” is a must-see film for those who want to experience all the hallmarks of the horror genre. Stream “The Conjuring” on HBO Max or rent for $3.99 on Prime Video. Â