The Conjuring made me feel like all hope is not lost for suspenseful movies. Yes, I went to see it this movie that is supposedly based on real life. Here are my thoughts.
Conjure- to summon a devil or spirit by invocation or incantation
The Conjuring would have been a lot better if I would not have accidentally sat next some couple. That's not the fault of the movie, but as soon as it got suspenseful the woman was leaning all against her man. Ugh! I had to focus hard and pretend this was not happening. I had to ignore the fact she was all on him while I had come to the movies alone to watch something scary. That's messed up. Now back to the movie.
Every paranormal movie starts out with a family spending their last dime on a house located in the middle of nowhere. Well, The Conjuring was no different. A family, the Perron's, was able to afford a country home located on what looked like an abandoned farm after the bank auctioned it off. Like every movie they were a big family with the oldest child not liking the idea of where they had to move. Plus they had a cute little dog that recognized the danger right away and refused to step inside the house. Too bad they didn't listen to the dog, but who would? I'm not sure if the haunting happened the night of or the very next morning.
The first night in the house the children were playing a game. This game was their version of hide and go seek. The one searching for everyone else has to be blindfolded and find everyone with the blind fold on. In the midst of the game they broke a part of the wall and discovered there was a basement. Then the next morning the youngest girl ran out to find out the dog was dead. Along with the dead dog, the mom, Carolyn Perron, discovered a bruise on her knee. The dad, Roger Perron, assumed it was from the sex they'd had the night before. The other eerie thing was that all clocks had stopped at 3:07am. They shook it all off as pure circumstance and continued to make their new place a home. Of course the fun doesn't stop there.
Strange things kept happening in the movie. Now usually in these movies the weakest link is the father and everyone else has to somehow save him. However, this time the whole family was being haunted by ghosts. The youngest daughter was talking to a dead boy named Roy. Another child was continuously being awakened from her sleep by a ghost who eventually told her it would kill her whole family. Then there was a daughter who was sleep walking. The oldest daughter had to get an involuntary haircut after a ghost would not let go of her hair. Plus Carolyn was on anti-psychotics, but those pills could not protect her from the craziness going on in the house. They also could not protect her from eventually getting possessed.
Carolyn was told to go to a doctor for the bruises that kept popping up on her body, but instead she went to see Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warren's were famous paranormal investigators. Lorraine could also see glimpses of the past from everything she touched. They were initially skeptical of her story, but decided to check the house out anyway. The minute the Warren's arrived, Lorraine could see the ghosts that were attached to everyone.
I thought that was strange because she didn't see any ghost when Carolyn initially spoke to her. Hmm..
After seeing death everywhere, the Warren's decide that the whole house needs an exorcism. That's a new one. They told the Perron family that no matter where they went the ghosts would follow unless an exorcism was performed on the whole house. However, they would need proof that the place was really being haunted.
Before the Warren's came back, the Perron's did research on their house. Now why didn't they just do this before buying it and moving into it? They found out that the house was originally owned by a witch who cursed the land and hung herself. Her death happened at 3:07 am. Any family that moved in after was doomed. All the mothers ended up killing their children. Hence, the dead ghost the youngest girl was talking to. That ghost wasn't dangerous, but it was a victim of being murdered by it's mother.
A crew of investigators along with the local policeman set up in the house to get proof of a haunting. (I'm not sure what the policeman was there for. He can't protect them from ghosts.) In the middle of the night everything starts happening. The door to the basement opens, but the ghosts hides as they look for it. Pictures are taken as the ghosts moves around. The only thing about the 1st night that stays normal is the clocks. They decide not to stop working at 3:07, which makes the crew skeptical on that part.
Everything starts to get normal again, except there are a bunch of people around the house. The Perron's are feeling happy again. The Warren's are enjoying the nice feel of the country life. One strange thing that does happen is while Lorraine is doing laundry a bed sheet flies and covers the room where Carolyn is sleeping. In the midst of running into the house and up the stairs to check on Carolyn, a possession happens. Lorraine suspects it, but can't prove it.
I forgot to mention earlier the Ed Warren had a room in his house where he kept all paronormal findings. Most of the stuff was caged up to lock the evil in, but he warned everyone not to touch anything. While he was trying to catch strange activity, his child had been left at the house with her grandmother.
Everyone is in the house one night and the craziness starts back up. The policeman sees the ghost of a maid. The sleep walking daughters starts up again. This time they just follow her because Lorraine sees a ghost. The little girl disappears and then they all find a tunnel hidden behind the clothes closet where she is sleeping. While trying to figure out this hidden hole, Lorraine falls until she hits the basement floor. More ghosts pop up and she runs. After that, they all get the Hell out of there until the priest has approved the exorcism.
Then the shit gets better. Lorraine receives signs that her daughter could be in danger. Upon getting back home in time to save her daughter from a ghost, Lorraine and Ed are alerted that Carolyn has taken two of the kids. Her plans are to kill them.
In the midst of saving the children, Ed is forced to do an exorcism. He has not been trained for that life. He has only watched, but they are left with no other choice. Together the Warren's are able to get the evil spirit out of Carolyn and save the Perron family.
Immediately after everyone leaves the house, Ed gets a call that the exorcism of the house has been approved. He also takes a souvenir from the house to add to his collection of possessed collections. The end.
I liked this movie. Thank God no one died or I was about to start boycotting every paranormal movie. How do you say it's based on a true story, but kill everyone? I don't believe them, but I do believe The Conjuring was based on some strange happening.