Thanks to the generosity of Marketing firm MUSTARD SEED I went for the preview of The Conjuring tonight at Marina GV. There is a reason why I’m reviewing movies – it is an efficient form of recreation on a dollar to time-engaged ratio. I’ll have a recreation for the struggling entrepreneur piece soon.
Bottom Line: 4/10
Disappointing. Predictable but watchable. Set in the mid 70s, Family of 7 (with no less than 5 girls who are too young to have the obligatory nudity rampant in American horror/slasher) move into an old house, that is haunted. They get scared, experts come in. Cue ghostbusters theme.
Worth the price of entry? – If you are expecting Cabin in the woods calibre props, special effects and monsters, be prepared for sheer budget you-barely-see-it blair witch tomfoolery with inconsistent shaky cam (although not shot in ‘found footage style’ which felt less POV than sloppy camera work.) that caused me some degree of vertigo-esque discomfort. Not much of spoiler, but you get to see a corpse-paint witch, maid with slit wrists, crying mother with more corpse paint and kid-that-appears-in-mirror. Perhaps they hired an out of work femme Deathmetal band and got them to bring in family members. Not that you need much acting skills to play dead people who either stare at you or scream. Cinematographer did good framing and transition work though to carry off a supernatural state of suspense and terror. Too bad he was held back by the cast.
Scary moments were well thought out with deliberate and well crafted sound-scapes (kudos to the original composer) but not enough to save the movie for the supposed climatic effects that drew some hoots rather than screams from my cohort of reviewers. The religious overtone was also quite dense, with special emphasis brought to bear on the victim family being ‘non-baptised’. The latter contrived commentary could just be a cheap a shot at the Vatican, particularly since the true exorcist never made it to the premises due to bureacracy and Patrick Wilson had to power through a horrifically enunciated Latin exorcism ritual scene with much less conviction than a taxi driver running after the LTA parking attendant mid-bakchormee.
The air of mystery was pierced rather immediately once the paranormal investigators, who while the actors played to a tee, were somewhat of a buzzkill.
Not recommended to watch with clients, but if your spouse is a horror junkie, there might be some value. She better not have a headache later.
Related articles
- ‘The Conjuring’ Review (screenphiles.com)
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