(film review)

“Who you are? What are you called?
“Demonologists. This is one of the options. And also ghost hunters. Psychos. Crazy…”

In the American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and screened in 2013, Ed and Lorraine Warren, famous demonologists, deal with various types of the manifestations of paranormal activities. The Perron family, moved to a new house several days ago, turns to the demonologists for help. They claim that frightening phenomena of a mystical nature occur in their house. After inspecting the dwelling, the Warrens realize that they are faced with one of the most vicious demons in their practice.

That is an awesome horror movie…They say that it is based on real events. It’s hard to believe, but the story is striking and stimulating. At the beginning of the film, we are shown a small digression about the doll, practically unrelated to the main plot. With this trick, James Wan prepares the ground for the further development of the universe. It will also be in the sequel to ‘The Conjuring.’ The trick is to briefly show the character, sow intrigue, and subsequently disperse this story in a spin-off. A thought-provoking trick, but it would have worked 100% if Wang personally sat in the director’s chair of all films. And the mess that turned out could hardly be called a worthy successor to ‘The Conjuring.’ Plot twists and time periods contradict each other.

To be honest, haunted house movies are getting a little fed up. Nothing new has been shown here either. There are two ways out of such platitudes: either to impress everyone with the visual component or make the film so scary that people will be afraid to fall asleep after it. The ‘Conjuring’ did not fully succeed on both of them. There are a couple of moments from which you shudder, but only a couple. And then, you can really feel them only in the movie-theater. There are a little more moments from which goose bumps run down the back. That’s all. Special effects are almost invisible, and they are not particularly required here. Basically, we are frightened by the sharp appearances of evil spirits in the frame.

Prior to this, Patrick Wilson had already appeared in James Wan’s Astral. Together with Rose Byrne, they played a married couple who were terrorized by ghosts. Here, Vera Farmiga became his on-screen wife, and I must say, this duet also looked very organic in the frame. What cannot be said about the other couple – Lili Taylor / Ron Livingston. Close to a flop…

My rating is 8/10.