Directed by: James Wan
Staring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Ron Livingston
I am an avid fan of all things horror; I have been watching
horror films since I was about 4 years old. With all the media hype around this
film I honestly didn’t expect it to be as frightening as advertised, I was
right.
Before the real story gets going there is a small prelude
story to introduce Ed and Lorraine Warren, this part was completely pointless,
yes it did the job of introducing the two characters but it could have been
done it a more creative noteworthy way. The prelude revolved around a doll that
seemed like it would have played a major part in the film, it didn’t, the doll
was meaningless to the plot of the film. After the film actually begins it
shows a new family moving into a house, and big surprise what should they find,
a part of the house boarded up. If we have learned anything from haunted house
films, this is where all the evil is hidden and contained. The family rips the
boards down and explores the area, and sets the haunting in motion. The film is
supposedly based on a true event, as was The
Amityville Horror that Ed and Lorraine also investigated, nevertheless at
the end it’s left open for a sequel, this tactic has always baffled me since
most of the time the next tenants claim to never have any problems.
The trailers pretty much ruin any chance of you being
startled at any point in this film. Slow zoom outs and sudden lack of sound made
for predictable “scares”. It was a bit
choppy and jumped around but wasn’t extraordinarily distracting, although the
flashbacks were never fully developed or explained. The acting was nothing
amazing, I remember Lili Taylor from The
haunting and her acting hasn’t improved. The music choice was done well;
the songs fit the era the story took place in. Overall this film is a generic
horror film, with no real plot development relying solely on cheep scare
tactics, I give it 2 out 5 stars.
