[Locke]

Just rewatched The Conjuring on Bluray.

Based loosely on real life Ed and Lorraine Warren - and one of their cases - the Conjuring envisions them as basically a superhero duo seemingly more inspired by the urban fantasy genre of the likes of Harry Dresden and John Constantine than anything else. Lorraine literally has superhuman abilities the movie never once questions and while Ed has no real powers of his own he's learnt ways of battling demons through human techniques and science, including most importantly, the art of exorcism. Having characters who are basically always in control, and have methods of seizing control again once it slips away from them, really forces Wan to do some interesting things with his film to stop us getting too comfortable. It seems we spend so much of the horror genre following characters running away (and never in the right direction!) it's nice to watch a film like The Conjuring where they take a stand at the start, and don't wait for all the ethnic minorities and hot girls in the cast to die first.

The only real issue I have with how The Conjuring is written is sequels. It's pretty clear, early on, that what the producers really wanted here was a franchise and honestly I'd be perfectly happy for one. BUT... The movie skims over a lot, and also requires lots of logic leaps too, seemingly worried it may end up burning through material that could be used for later films. It doesn't really get in the way of the experience overall but it's only when the film finishes that you realise how dumb or confusing so much of the film is despite a very simple narrative on paper. The film pretends to have a rich mythology, and hints at the complexity of it all, but never actually fills in the details - or never really in any meaningful way at least. Despite this, a lot of the crucial moments of the film require us to have an understanding and belief in the universe of The Conjuring, yet the movie never puts in the effort for us to have that kind of faith in our understanding of the inner workings.

Once the scares begin though, Wan never takes his foot off the accelerator, it's the kind of film where the moment moment you decide to relax is a decision you're swiftly punished for. Honestly the scares come so unrelentingly it should probably be boring but it spends a lot of time setting the scene, and the atmosphere, making good use of ambient and natural sounds and lighting. Subtly changing the atmosphere in the room can have a big effect when a director like Wan is behind the camera.

The Conjuring is not without set piece moments, either, but it's a film that tries to scare you from the inside out - basically forcing you to scare yourself - rather than just trying to shock you or make you jump by banging pots and pans. The all out bombast of the Insidious films is wonderful but it never really worked all that well so thankfully when this film comes down to a battle for Carolyn's soul, it's a downplayed, personal and emotional affair that requires us to care about the characters, with the performances to back it up, in a way rarely seen in modern horror. The almost throwaway moment where the possessed Carolyn looks at April, and April looks back... just all the stuff that dances through April's face...just WOW.

Most crucially though is the Conjuring's ability to understand what the audience is already scared of, what they have always been scared of and always will be. Those strange bangs and creaks in the middle of the night - it's just the house settling...right? That shadow in the corner of the room, it's just the moonlight hitting the table...right? That isn't a person standing in the window, right...it's just a trick of the light...right? That door didn't close on its own, it's just a draft...right? It even taps into our childhood fears, like the concept of the monster in the wardrobe or under the bed. Why is the unknown so terrifying to us?