'THE CONJURING'

'THE CONJURING' (R) (3 1/2 STARS)

Written by Chad and Carey Hayes
Directed by James Wan
Actors: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Joey King.

If it wasn't based on a true story and if the actors and director of "The Conjuring" didn't do their job so well I would not believe any of the story of this haunted house movie. I would have just thrown it in the pile of other possession, haunted house movies that look so phony these days. "The Conjuring" is an effective and surprisingly deep haunted house/possession movie, brilliantly acted, shot and directed. It scares you while making you care about the characters.

Ed and Lorraine were real life experts on demonic possession and they studied many real cases including the one based on the "Amityville Horror". In 1979 a movie was made out of that real life case but it didn't show the Warrens. It is a laughable thriller, one of the worst horror movies of it's kind. In "The Conjuring" Ed and Lorraine are set up very well by writers Chad and Carey Hayes. They are called on by a family who have moved into a new house and feel that it is being haunted. This family is also set up very well by the writers. We will get to know these people very well before the scares and jumps will start.

This will be why we will become so invested in this story while other demonic possession crap like "The Last Exorcist" will be exposed for the shallow crud they are. That is also due to the wonderful, lived in performances by it's four leads, one with Oscar caliber work. The movie is set in 1971 and it feels like it and that goes towards the characters also.

Ed and Lorraine are wonderfully played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Farmiga is one of my favorite actresses right now, she is putting in consistently great work for years now. It is a strong performance and it is a strong female lead role. Wilson plays an everyman type character so well as he has done in other films including other horror movies. Ron Livingston as the father of the Perron family is also, like Wilson, an effective and under rated actor who plays everyman characters so well beginning with his great deadpan turn in "Office Space".

The movie is raised to a whole new level by the performance of Lili Taylor as the mother, Carolyn Perron. Taylor has been such an under rated force in acting ever since she sang about the detested Joe in "Say Anything". Hollywood did not know how to handle an unconventional beauty and great actress like Lili Taylor. I am very happy to see her get such a pivotal role here. She plays a loving, frustrated mother with such grace and natural, effortless ease. It is a powerful performance for a very difficult role and she is what this movie needs, she should be remembered at Oscar time!

Director James Wan has grown a lot since he directed "Saw" which I hated and which he directed very shoddily. Here he knows how to movie the camera, get great performances and make this movie as believable as it can be. Being an agnostic I am also not that much a believer in demonic possession but this movie does an effective job, better than the plethora of cheap, bad possession movies in the past few years. The period detail and camera work are impressive, there are great tracking shots and we can follow everything cleanly. Wan has grown as a film maker and here he has made a scary, believable, effective and finally very touching horror movie. This is the best horror movie of the year so far and one of the best movies of the year.