The Conjuring (2013

[Katrine Freggiaro]

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This is the point when the family call in the Warrens who begin their investigations and do some digging into the history of the farmhouse. After this, things get really disturbing. And believe me, there are some really scary moments in The Conjuring. Hand clapping: The use of hide and clap creates some terrifying moments, culminating in the first wardrobe encounter. It reminded me a little of the knock on wood scenes from The Orphanage. The theme is picked up gain later when the mother ends up in the entrance to the basement.

Over decades, the film industry has both embraced and abused the haunted house clich. It would be all to easy to consider this trope to be overused and played-out, yet, there is something that keeps brining it back to the forefront. This is why an established horror director like James Wan pounced on the opportunity to direct The Conjuring (2013). There is something that keeps pulling us back to this simple horror premise. Haunted houses and demonic possessions exist in the deepest darkest corners of the human psyche.

In good ghost stories, something visceral and unrelenting hides directly in the fabric of our safest place. It threatens children in their beds when we they are most vulnerable. Evil spirits destroy the lives of their subjects, tearing apart relationships and often possessing family members. Most importantly this evils seeps from every crack and crevice of the very same place that the family goes for protection. This omnipresence burrows deep in our fabric and culture and to this day it remains inextricable from our storytelling.

Around the 2000s, the haunted house theme began to suffer a bit of a malaise as the horror-remake-engine began to crank at full force. The full weight of remakes, CGI and the rise of jump-scares threatened to sully the proud history of the haunted horror film. I am looking at you House on Haunted Hill (1999), 13 Ghosts (2001) and Amityville Horror (2005). When James Wan directed the 2013 release, The Conjuring, audiences held some skepticism. Fortunately the trailers had me enthused enough to take the chance. Minimally, The Conjuring screenplay, written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes, offers fresh content rather than another Hollywood retread.

The main plot begins in 1971 when the Perron family moves to greener pastures after procuring a remote farmhouse in a bank auction. The house needs some work, but this young family proves ready to take on the challenge. Ron Livingston of Officespace fame plays the role of Roger. Lili Taylor, who would later play Verna Sawyer in Leatherface (2017), portrays Carolyn. Immediately upon moving in, the family begins to encounter strange occurrences. The clocks stop at 3:07 AM every morning and birds kamikaze against the exterior walls of the home. Almost immediately, the family dog inexplicably dies.

Haunted House stories permeate our culture and our folklore. If we are to live with this perpetual drive to not only create, but also consume these stories, we need to them to be good. For I while I genuinely thought that good haunted house stories were slowly dying from poor direction, CGI overload and lazy jump scares. James Wan reinvigorated the haunted house story and demonstrated the art of the scare. I can only hope that his contemporaries take note.

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