I love it when a small budget movie comes out of nowhere, dominates the box office, makes a ton of cash, and then leaves Hollywood scratching its collective head wondering why this happened. Well I can tell them why it happened, but they will never understand nor do they really want to understand or they would be making more movies like this. Before I get to far into this review, I will just say go out and watch this movie. It is this good and deserves every amount money it earned because it earned the dollars honestly and without the blessing of Hollywood.
How good is this movie?
It's very good. It harkens back to the good old days of Hollywood making horror movies, or for that matter, any movies any general. This movie feels like a movie made in the 70's and it's all the better for it. It is a horror movie but doesn't rely on over the top gory scenes or over the top blood drenched scenes, instead it uses the good old fashioned way of presenting horror. It relies on what it doesn't show and lets the imagination of the viewer imagination far worse things than it could ever show. Old school horror is so much better than anything these "new" directors are making now. This movie mixes elements of the original Haunting with The Exorcist in a beautiful way, to create a movie that feels original yet familiar at the same time, not too many movies can do this or do this with such ease. A lot of credit has to be given to James Wan. His direction is superb even in the non horrifying scenes. He doesn't use any clever camera tricks or editing to convey horror but uses the old school way of making the horrific terrifying and it works wonderfully. And his direction of each family in this movie brings an intimate, closeness that really helps to draw the viewer into the world and story he's telling.
Some other things I think helped to make this movie storm the box office and ultimately as good as it turned out, at least for me.
Despite all of the horrific things that happen in this movie, it is a very family centric movie where the core family values are front and center through out. This isn't a movie that is trying to break down the walls that make a family. This isn't a movie that's trying to push some kind of political agenda against the family. This is a movie that supports everything that makes a family, a family. A mother, a father and the kids that flow from that relationship are what make a family, a family. This is a movie that goes against everything Hollywood has been trying to break down over the last few decades on what makes a family, a family. The Conjuring also fully supports a loving marriage between a man and woman, not a man with a man or a woman with a woman, but a husband a wife. There just isn't enough movies out there that have this as a main focal point, instead many movies seem to want to destroy any notion of a loving relationship between a husband and wife. This movie fully supports it and not in a wife being totally submissive to the husband way either, but in both of them taking a part in the relationship and sharing responsibilities. I like the fact that this movie presents not just one family and one marriage as an example, they have two families and two marriages as an example. That is one bold move and I think it paid off as it just so happens the people in America voted with their wallets and really connected with this movie, a family movie. I also like how The Conjuring doesn't present a perfect family or a perfect marriage but a family and marriage that has problems but are still able to work through those problems without just giving up and throwing in the towel. I think this also helped people to connect with this movie as it showed people who were willing to work through problems instead of not dealing with them, which is what our society seems more built upon now-a-days.
Lastly, The Conjuring is a very spiritual movie, one where God does exist and isn't just some innocent bystander watching everything going on from the distant realm where He lives. And He doesn't just sit around with His feet propped up on a coffee table watching people suffer. He works through people to get His job done. This movie presents God and spirituality in a way that Hollywood is totally confused about and will never understand. But I like how The Conjuring presents all of the spirituality in an honest way. Not a way that is demeaning or poking fun at it but a real non-biased way, which is something Hollywood never does because in Hollywood spirituality is only to be mocked and made fun of, where it's principles and values are beat up on a regular basis. Not so in The Conjuring, in this movie the values of spirituality and God are never mocked or made fun of they brought front and center throughout the movie and make up the foundation of everything that happens within the movie.
In case you couldn't figure out, I really liked this movie and everything about this movie, from the acting, the directing, the set designs, the story lines, the characters, the themes, everything connected in a good way and made this movie worth seeing.
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