Film Review: a slice of retro horror in The Conjuring

THE CONJURING
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston
Director: James Wan
Category: IIB

The Conjuring is not only set in the 1970s, it plays out like a horror movie made at that time. The retro-inspired film is very light on computerised special effects, and tries to shock with demonic models, clever editing and things that go bump in the night.

The result is a well-made, entertaining film that horror buffs should enjoy - even though they won't find its retro antics very scary.

The film purports to be based on a "true story". But a bit of research reveals that this "truth" is actually just a claim by real-life paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, played in the film by Vera Farmiga.

Malaysian-born Australian filmmaker James Wan, who previously directed the meaner, nastier Saw, lumps a batch of standard ideas into the storyline, to reasonable effect.

It begins as a devil doll film like Child's Play (aka Chucky), swiftly morphs into The Amityville Horror and ends up as direct rip-off of The Exorcist.

An above-average script for the genre means that the various elements hang together unexpectedly well. But anyone who has seen those three earlier films will know exactly what's coming around each corner.

It's 1971, and the Perron family move into a secluded farmhouse on Rhode Island. Things start to go wrong almost immediately: their dog dies, and the children see horrifying apparitions in their bedroom. The Perrons call in psychic investigators Lorraine and her husband Ed (Patrick Wilson), an odd couple who keep a museum of witchcraft in their basement.

The kooky duo conclude that a highly malevolent spirit has attached itself to the poor family, and try to secure some evidence of the haunting so that the Catholic church will agree to perform an exorcism on the property. That makes the haunting turn violent.

The performances make this offering stand out from other lowish-budget horrors, especially that of Farmiga. The actress plays her role for real, and the film gains credibility whenever she is on the screen.

It's oddly entertaining to see a movie that sticks to the old-school traditions of horror. "Old" here is actually very old: The Conjuring harks back to a time before films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Hallowee n modernised the genre by adding a vicious and sadistic streak to the characters.

Although some of the quick cuts are startling, the horror scenes are generally quaint - especially the ones which involve echoing bumps and knocks. The low-tech exorcism finale is well staged, but it will take a bit more than a model head, a chair and a white sheet to frighten modern viewers.

This is especially true of horror fans in Asia, who have seen truly demonic films by the likes of Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa ( Cure; Retribution).

48hours@scmp.com

The Conjuring opens on August 29