The Conjuring

You have to look despite being afraid of what you might find.

Finally!  A modern horror movie that's worthy of admission!  The Conjuring is a rather ingenious modern horror flick.  The best moments of the film direct you to look in one direction, then the scare comes at you from another.  It's tense and genuinely creepy.  The Conjuring benefits from a fine cast, seasoned direction from James Wan (whose creepy credits include Saw and Insidious), and atmospheric thrills.  Though it treads on multiple familiar horror themes (picture perfect family moving into a perfectly creepy haunted house, witchcraft, demonic possession, ghostly dolls, "based on a true story", etc.), I'm awarding it full marks because it was solidly entertaining and expertly crafted.  The film is far from boring or overly serious to the point of ridicule.  Director James Wan plays with your expectations right up until the final moments of the film, making for a modern horror film that's worthy of its title.  Its R rating, however, is more interesting.  According to MPAA, The Conjuring is rated R for "sequences of disturbing violence and terror."  Don't most PG-13 horror films also fit that description.  Perhaps the MPAA is simply a compliment, suggesting that the film is too damn scary for a PG-13 rating.  Agreed.

Rating: 5 / 5 

A note I left for my roommate to come home (alone) to after seeing the film.

Note: I don't own the rights to any of the photos on this website.  They're copied here from Google images for entertainment purposes only.