Review of The Conjuring (2013) by Elijah G — 04 Nov 2017

Personally, I really enjoyed this film. I believe the film captured most of the elements that make a good horror film. While the movie didn't feel terrifying, it did feel unnerving throughout. However, while some may see its failure to throw a scare in every 15 minutes to be negative, I see it as refreshing.

More often than not, modern horror movies, tend to overdo scares, especially "jump scares." I felt The Conjuring, did a great job of building suspense instead of scaring the audience every chance possible.

Often a scene would be set up for a big scare, the suspense would build, the music would start, but as the character went to investigate they found nothing. While some may have disliked this, I personally enjoyed the unpredictability of the scare.

Most often, The Conjuring is compared to The Conjuring 2 in which most everyone I have talked to enjoy the sequel more than the original. However, it's the use of constant scares that I believe makes The Conjuring 2 an inferior movie.

I never felt scared because I knew when the music started, and the suspense was set, something was going to jump out or what have you. However, a common theme between both films is excellent camera work and soundtracks.

The story is also well done in the first film. While there may have been some plot holes and was unbelievable at times, overall it was well done. Overall the film is a great horror film, it does an excellent job of building suspense and is incredibly unnerving throughout.