"The Conjuring" is directed by James Wan. It has garnered universal praise from critics and audience alike and has proved a surprise hit at the US box office by earning more than 100 million dollars so far on a budget of 13 million. I was, hence, all pumped up to watch this.
However, I have seen the other flicks directed by Wan and his filmography is kind of a mixed bag.
"Saw" has been one of my favorite thrillers of all time. "Death Wish" was exhilarating due to Kevin Bacon's superb performance. "Insidious" and "Dead Silence" were pretty lame. His chequered track record kind of dampened my enthusiasm. So it was a cautious Dushyant who decided to view thos on his birthday.
It begins with the demonologist/psychic Warren husband-wife duo talking to three people about a doll who has been infested by a malevolent spirit. There are scenes which show the couple giving lectures about ghosts and spirits.
There is a parallel track about a family of seven which settles into a new home. The house is extremely cold, there is rancid smell pervading the air and the youngest daughter has become friends with an invisible entity.
The family discovers a cellar by chance. Little do they know that all hell is about to break lose.
Slowly, the haunting begins to pick up momentum and every family member is terrorized.
They go and ask for Warrens' help and hence begins what the Warrens acknowledged in their files as their most terrifying encounter with the dark side.
It is not as if this movie is based on an original concept. It contains cliches galore. However, it does these cliches extremely well.
The movie has minimal gore,no nudity or profanity. However, the MPAA had good reason to give this a R rating because of its scare quotient.
The terror keeps on mounting. The scares come thick and fast. The sounds are used expertly to creep out the viewer.
The acting is pretty good. However, this belongs to the director. Wan uses the camera expertly to heighten the suspense. I could swear there were entire sequences wherein the audience was collectively holding its breath waiting for the denouement.
This is the first English movie this year which I have seen on the big screen. It rarely happens that I get to recommend any to my readers because by the time I watch a flick, it is already available on blue ray. So I would wholeheartedly recommend to please go ahead and watch this in the theaters. Trust me, this is definitely among the best horror movies of this millennium.
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