You know a movie is incredibly fucking terrifying when everyone in the theatre is dead silent. Nobody is on their cell-phone. You can't even hear the munching of popcorn. Finally it reaches a point where several audience members begin to break out in awkward laughter--not because something in the film is cheesy, funny, or stupid, it is because they have realized that a movie has made them reach the point of complete terror and they are laughing to let their body release some of that tension. It's around this point that everyone in the theatre loses their minds in response to something amazing happening on screen--the audience has reached their breaking point.

The Conjuring is that movie, and there are…

The Conjuring is the definition of a horror film done right. It's creepy, intense, scary, and entertaining. The atmosphere was simply amazing. There were no cheap bullcrap scares. Every scare was legitimate; and that's why I loved this movie. I'd have to say this is the best horror film I've seen in the year 2000 or later. I can't give James Wan enough credit because this was SO well made. Major props sir, I salute you.

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson were outstanding in their roles. They were believable and sold their performances, without going overboard. I also thought the mother, Lily Taylor did great as well. The father Ron Livingston was the weakest of the "main characters", but nonetheless…

84/100

Director James Wan isn't interested in subverting horror tropes or building a scary movie as a homage to the past of the genre; he commits to utter sincerity instead. Through the geography of all the locations and a masterful sense of place and presence, Wan deploys tricks and scares, sounds and images which are completely ordinary. But they still happen to scare us. Why? One word: sincerity. He invests in the family, he forms the Warrens as flawed but kind individuals, and he continues to scare the hell out of us without one winking eye. What was old is new again thanks to Wan's fluid, expansive camera: a roaming spirit in and of itself. It may be an ordinary…

James Wan's "The Conjuring" is an expertly designed, crafted, and executed horror film. With its ability to both shake and get under the skin of its audience, the film is masterfully effective and a welcome addition to the genre.

A traditional haunted house story with contemporary flourishes, the films follows a married team of paranormal investigators as they look into a house with a secret. Thanks to its rich production design, the film is rife with 1970s period details and textures. Wan's camera maneuvers over a drained color palette that both sells the era and adds a cold bit of atmosphere.

While story details are best left unspoiled, Wan is remarkable in his ability to ramp up the tension in…

No doubt that giving this film 5 stars at this early stage will provoke some to think I'm 'over-hyping' it. But I wouldn't be comfortable giving it less. It scared me right out of my post-sleepy queue coma.

This is possibly the best film by James Wan in his already impressive back catalogue. THE CONJURING is an unrelenting tale of two real-life paranormal investigators on their hardest case. They are asked to help a family in their new home occupied by an extremely malevolent entity. Ed and Lorraine Warren play the ghost-hunters, Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston the terrified mother and father of 5 daughters going to great lengths to protect their family. There's a lot here that we've seen…

The packed theatre kept gushing out such a wide variety of elevated emotions. There were pin drop silences, anxious subconscious leg shakes, exhilarating gasps, high pitched screams, Tom Cruise style jumping from the couches, the nervy arm holding of those nearby, the occasional quips and also the some jerks who kept mocking the events carefully built up on screen as to what is frightening in this, only to have their mouths gasping for air as the film unfolded. The film not only involved my mind and heart but in a sense the whole of my body too.

James Wan’s The Conjuring is based on chilling real life events experienced by the Perron Family. The 1970’s setting of the film does…

Although “The Conjuring” doesn't come close to breaking free from the horror movie formula, it’s still a well made film. And even though I probably won’t end up watching many more films in this series, it does set itself up for a universe well.

There’s plenty of jump scares, which always feels like the cheapest and easiest attempt at horror. Although I was never frightened, this is the kind of stuff that bothers me when it comes to horror movies. The film is also “based on a true story,” but saying that feels pretty loose. Calling this "based on a true story" is the most bare minimum version of the truth.

Once again, this is still a well made movie,…