I never heard of the game Hide and Clap until I watched The Conjuring. Younger viewers who happen to watch the film may never want to play the game again - at least the superstitious ones who may not want to recall a few terrifying early scenes in the film. The Hide and Clap game is just one of many frightening aspects of The Conjuring, which is a modern horror film that is actually able to scare its audience - a rare accomplishment. As I have grown older, most horror films do not bother me much and I cannot think of any recently that have stuck with me after I left the theater and made me wary of falling asleep. However, The Conjuring had me on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion and was also able to repeatedly send chills down my spine.
The Conjuring is set in early 1970s New England, where Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger Perron (Ron Livingston) have purchased a farmhouse that will be home to them and their five daughters. The film is based on a true story of paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), who claim to have helped the Perron family battle a demonic presence in their home. Soon after the family moves in, the family dog refuses to enter the home and is found dead shortly thereafter. After finding a hidden room behind a closet wall, the Perron family begin to experience other strange occurrences; Carolyn has mysterious bruises all over her body, the girls feel like someone is grabbing at their feet in the middle of the night and the clocks all stop at 3:07am each night.
Since Roger is a truck driver, he is away from home a great deal, so it is up to Carolyn to handle the bizarre happenings. After one harrowing evening that includes Carolyn being locked in the basement and one of the daughters attacked by a ghost, the Perron's seek help from paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren. Lorraine is a clairvoyant who can see spirits and share memories by touching others, while Ed is a demonologist. Shortly after they arrive at the Perron's home, they acknowledge that something bizarre is happening in the house and identify a number of spirits, not all of which are necessarily harmful. After setting up equipment with the help of their assistant, Drew (Shannon Kook), and a police officer, Brad (John Brotherton), the Warren's believe that they have gathered enough evidence that will persuade the Catholic Church to perform an exorcism, but time is running out for the family, as Carolyn is possessed by the spirit of an accused witch who is determined to sacrifice one of her children. As a result, the Perrons and the Warrens are in a race against time.
The Conjuring is a well crafted, often scary and generally well acted film. Vera Farmiga is especially good as Lorraine and plays a much more low strung character than Norma Bates in the television series Bates Motel. Lili Taylor also delivers fine work, as Carolyn, the loving mother who finds herself facing an evil that is trying to inhabit her mind and body, which places the lives of her children in jeopardy. The nearly two hour effort is well paced and the story held my attention, at least until the final act. At that point, I felt The Conjuring went from being a semi-believable story to one that seemed to go overboard and became almost hysterical (not funny, just out of control). In addition, the number of spirits who are inhabiting the house only served to convolute the plot. On the other hand, the special effects are quite good and the music is appropriately creepy for the film which benefits from a rural setting, where help is not always easy to find. I suspect that the DVD will drop around Halloween, which would be a perfect time to revisit this above average frightfest that will likely please fans of the horror genre and beyond.
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