The Conjuring

 

The Conjuring 2013

• Director: James Wan
• Based on the book by Jeff Nichols
• Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver, Shannon Kook
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Patrick Wilson – Prometheus, Phantom of the Opera
• Vera Farmiga – Skin, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Breaking and Entering
• Ron Livingston – The Professor, The Fifth Wave
• Lili Taylor – Maze Runners, Public Enemies, Six Feet Under, High Fidelity, A Slipping-Down Life, I Shot Andy Warhol, The Addiction, Arizona Dream, Born on the Fourth of July
• Joey King - The Dark Knight Rises, Crazy Stupid Love
• Mackenzie Foy - Interstellar
• Why? Recommended by friends.
• Seen: 8 November 2022      

A lily-white loving family of Mum Carolyn (Taylor), Dad Roger (Livingston) and five daughters move to a big old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. The dog refuses to enter the house. That should have warned them but they love their house. Of course there’s a dark cobwebby cellar. That should have warned them. Have they never seen a ghost film?

Remind me to never move to a big old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. They all have ghosts.

When the scary stuff starts they turn to ghost busters Ed (Wilson) and Lorraine (Farmigan) – believe it or not they’re real people and this is ‘based on a true story’ – who come to measure the house for ghosts.

It’s a little scary and then I doze off so not that scary.

While they’re not my favourite, I don’t have anything against ghost stories, if the characters have some depth and the acting is good, like in The Others and The Woman in Black. This is not one of them. It’s mostly just thuds and slamming doors and running around and spooky sobbing and the Catholic Church.

Highly overrated. After the recommendations, I’m disappointed. But Joey King is very good at crying in terror so for her and the few moments of scariness it gets      

2 * of 5