Things that go bump in the basement----Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring
Here's a perfect example of potential that goes down the drain. The Conjuring could have and should have been an exceptionally creepy horror film. The problem is that, despite some excellent acting and an adequately creepy first half an hour...it gets bogged down in its own boring genericness. It's the kind of film that even knows it's cliche and tries to cover that up by presenting the typical idea at hand somewhat differently. Unfortunately, director James Wan and writers Chad and Carey Hayes don't do a good job of covering this up...at all.
The film stars the always reliable Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor as Roger and Carolyn Perron---a couple living with their children in the 1970s. When their children begin to see things...Carolyn suspects something is actually up while Roger thinks they're just hallucinating. On a limb....they decide to call demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (the also always reliable Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.) These particular demonologists are the kind that try to completely debunk your belief. There's even a scene in the film in which they tell another couple that the creepy noises they're hearing are because of the pipes. However, they can't debunk the fact that something freaky is going on in the Perron's house.
Like I said...the first half an hour of the film is adequately creepy. This is the set up before the plot actually starts to gain its footing. It is creepy because you don't know when the plot is actually going to come in full force. However, once the plot kicks in...I knew every scare that was coming and exactly how the scare was going to be set up. Rather than giving audiences the same old jump scares...why not try something a bit more inventive? The film also features way too many conversations about what's going on rather than telling us what's actually going on. Soon enough it just becomes tiresome and drawn out. Speaking of drawn out...the film is way too long. At 110 minutes...there were easily 20 minutes that could have been shaved off. Also...I hate to sound cynical but I feel as if the "based on a true story" stamp was just a way to sell tickets. I'm very in tune with the fact that both the Warrens and Perrons were real people but did ALL of this really happen? I don't think so. Lastly----there was too much an arc with Ed and Lorraine about how Ed doesn't want Lorraine to go through the same thing she experienced at one of their last exorcisms with the Perrons. That arch just got annoying. I don't go to a horror film for a story about a skeptical husband looking out for his wife---I go to be terrified which I rarely was.
There are a few things that almost saved the film for me. The acting is phenomenal. Livingston and Taylor make interesting and likable people to root for and go all in when need be. Wilson is simultaneously suave and suspenseful as a man who might have something else beside investigating the Perron's house up his sleeve. As well...Farmiga brings just the right amount of cool and creepy to her role. Also...despite being like any other horror film...one of the ways that they tried to cover up that fact was actually pretty cool. The method in question was making it feeling quaint. I liked that it felt more like Laslo Benedek's The Night Visitor or Robert Altman's Images rather than Sinister or Texas Chainsaw.
These things, however still could not quite save the film for me. It's definitely the best of the three films that opened this weekend but that's not saying much. The script is still too lazy and generic for its own good. Perhaps next time...Wan and The Hayes Brothers will try for something a bit more out there.
(2 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for sequences of disturbing violence and terror)
No comments:
Post a Comment