The Conjuring

[MacGuffin]

Release date: July 19, 2013

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor

Directed by: James Wan

Premise: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives.

[polkablues]

Horror fans of Xixax, I proclaim this film to be legit. Everything that worked about Insidious with none of the ridiculousness. The haunting/exorcism genre has been played out over the last decade, with varying degrees of success, but James Wan succeeds by playing it very straight, focusing on the characters, and absolutely mastering using the camera to build tension.

[modage]

Horror fans of Xixax, I proclaim this film to be legit. Everything that worked about Insidious with none of the ridiculousness. The haunting/exorcism genre has been played out over the last decade, with varying degrees of success, but James Wan succeeds by playing it very straight, focusing on the characters, and absolutely mastering using the camera to build tension.

I agree with everything you just said and I'm having trouble figuring out why I'm not more excited about this film than I was. Almost everything worked but it was just a little too familiar to get really excited about. I didn't find it as scary as the first half of "Insidious" but it didn't shit the bed either like the second half. I have no big complaints but it's hard for me to imagine revisiting this more than once. Weird, right?

Huge props to Wan for going from "Saw" to this (completely classically made haunting film), pretty much the complete opposite end of the horror spectrum.

[Lottery]

I thought the first Saw was a great little thriller. The trailers for this didn't seem entirely promising but yes, I've been hearing good things about it. Wan says he'll be leaving the horror genre soon.

[polkablues]

Yeah, I think we all remember Saw as worse than it is because the sequels are everything that's wrong with the past decade of horror cinema. That and Cary Elwes' bad bad bad performance. But the movie itself was clever and fresh at the time.

SPOILER-ISH-ESQUE, MAYBE?

Mod, I think I understand what you're feeling. As well made and effective as The Conjuring is, I'm not sure it has that hook, that truly memorable moment or image or whatever, to give it a real lasting quality. Insidious had the Darth Maul face guy, Sinister had the home movies, The Last Exorcism had Ashley Bell going into contortions, I'm not sure what The Conjuring has that will stick in people's minds the same way. Maybe the clapping. The clapping was pretty goddamn creepy.

On second thought, I feel like the doll was probably set up to serve that intention, but I don't think it was central enough to the story to really achieve it. Plus, creepy dolls are a dime a dozen in the history of horror movies.

[Kellen]

Lots of people are bring up the Amityville Horror film as a influence on this, I'd be curious to see though if Wan watched the film Burnt Offerings at all because that kept popping up in my head throughout this.  I enjoyed the film quite a bit and was shocked when I read that the SAW director did this, it should be interesting to see what he does next.

[MacGuffin]

it should be interesting to see what he does next.

Director James Wan sees Fast and Furious 7 as a "gritty revenge thriller"
Source: JoBlo

FAST AND FURIOUS 7 (or FAST 7, or whatever the hell it ends up being called) will probably be a little different from the previous films. Nothing radically different I'm sure, but this is the first FAST AND FURIOUS film not directed by Justin Lin since 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS.

James Wan is helming the follow-up to FAST AND FURIOUS 6, and while talking to The Playlist about some of his upcoming films the director shared what elements he'll be bringing to the franchise:

I really like the theme of this next one that we're going with. I can't really talk about it, but I like the theme; it's one that I really relate to. Then there's the drive of Number Seven, which was set up at the end of Number Six, which is a classic revenge story. I'm a big [genre] fan, so that's how I'm approaching it: I'm looking at it like a gritty, '70s revenge thriller, but one that still fits into the 'Fast and Furious' series.

If you've seen Wan's DEATH SENTENCE with Kevin Bacon (very underrated) you know the director has a soft spot for the genre, and the special cameo at the end of FAST AND FURIOUS 6 will more than likely be the set-up for the "classic revenge story." In previous interviews the director has also mentioned THE FRENCH CONNECTION and DEATH WISH as sources of inspiration for FAST AND FURIOUS 7.

The films in the FAST AND FURIOUS series get bigger and louder with each installment, but I wonder if James Wan is going to make the latest film a little smaller and more intimate. That doesn't mean FAST AND FURIOUS 7 is going to be like DRIVE (although if it does happen this woman is going to be really f*cking confused), but with Wan directing I wouldn't be surprised if the over-the-top action was toned down just a little in the new film.

FAST AND FURIOUS 7 is scheduled to be released on July 11th, 2014.

[Kellen]

Director James Wan sees Fast and Furious 7 as a "gritty revenge thriller"

Well, at least my brother will happy with another fast & furious movie.

[pete]

this was a wonderful little movie. I like to think that 2014 is the summer in which tentpoles get their asses kicked by comedies horrors and dramas

[jenkins]

it's spooky and made me think about the nature of demonism

terrific alexa work. i think the alexa was a vessel

[ElPandaRoyal]

I read somewhere that James Wan doesn't want to make any more horror movies, and that would be a shame as he's one of the last really good horror directors and one of the best in his generation along with Ti West. And I'm only saying this based on The Conjuring and Insidious alone (Saw, his other movie that I saw, is more of a thriller rather than a classical horror movie). Great horror comes from the unseen and to be able to do it right, you mostly need to have perfect control of space. That's why there's a whole subgenre in horror dedicated to confined spaces, mostly haunted houses. And within the space the action takes place in, it's vital to know where to put the camera, how to frame the shots, and to time the cuts to perfection - that's what great Shyamalan movies used to be all about, that's why John Carpenter was a master of the genre. Wan does it to very good effect, and while he may not have made a masterpiece, these two outings are quite effective, far away from any sort of torture porn (which Saw was a part of and I admit to enjoy sometimes) but real, classical horror that comes mostly from spot-on filmmaking. Hope Insidious 2 delivers the goods.