Welcome to the Attic! *clap, clap*

With the upcoming arrival of Annabelle this Friday, Oct 3rd, I wanted to post this article about the movie that this stems from. If you haven’t yet seen The Conjuring, well, you should. It blew me away. I haven’t been that scared by a horror movie in.. I don’t even know how long. I saw it in the theater with my boyfriend on my birthday. Seeing a really scary movie is something not many girls want on their birthday, but I am the Dark Princess. I live for this shit.

We were sitting there, holding hands and generally being that annoying couple. As the movie
ventured farther and farther into terrifying territory I was squirming in my seat to get closer to him. Clenching his hand with a death grip. He told me later on that he thought I had been hamming it up. I wasn’t. That’s the beauty of The Conjuring. It sneaks up on you. It goes from “just another haunted house” movie to something that truly gets under your skin and stays with you long after the credits roll. That night I slept with my iPhone’s nightlight app on.

The true beauty in the film is the orchestra of it all. Every instrument working together to create something magical.

The score? Fantastic. The subtlety of a few 60s tracks thrown in were just enough to set the scene of where you are, without going too far into cheeseville. This was no early 70s themed film, but it’s set in the 70s, and that line is a fine one. They understood that and acted accordingly. You simply feel like you’re watching a movie FROM the 70s, and as we all know, some of the greatest came from that decade.

The writing? Brilliant. They didn’t throw out the cheap “who’s there?” Or “hello?” A hundred times and they didn’t rely heavily on “fake scares” either. You know the ones. Where there’s a buildup that has you crouching down in your seat or your heart beating faster only to discover that noise is a cat, jumping out from the closet and sending many a viewer out of their seat, only to giggle at themselves after. No, this movie doesn’t need those cheap “boo” thrills, because it’s damn scary enough without them.

The acting? Amazing. To be frank, this is one of those rare times a horror film benefited from a bigger named cast. The main characters are known by many, but that only worked in their favor. These guys have serious acting chops, and they used them. I wasn’t watching Norma Bates, Jack Berger or that crazy girl from the Haunting remake. I was watching the Warrens help a terrified family. They all brought everything they had to the table, and the result is sheer brilliance. The terror resonates so strongly that before you know it you’re fully along for the ride, like it or not. The cast of young daughters was amazing as well. Speaking of the cast, keep an eye out for Lorraine herself!

The story? Well, if you’ve only seen the trailers, you have no clue what you’re missing. This is a very, very rare occurrence in the film industry where the trailers didn’t give everything good away. In fact, about the last 30 minutes were completely missing from trailers. And that kids, is genius! A refreshing change. It left me feeling disorientated and confused. What else was coming? Where is this story going? Is this the end? Wait, WHAT!? No spoilers here, all I’ll say is you have no idea where this movie is going, and that’s a great thing.

The Warrens are like royalty in the paranormal investigation world. They’ve taken on countless cases including the Amityville haunting. Ed has since passed, but Lorraine continues to help as many troubled people as she can, passing her knowledge down to younger investigators like Paranormal State’s Ryan Buell.

I can’t rave enough about this film, and it immediately became one of my all-time favorites. Don’t just add it to your Netflix queue, go buy the blu ray. Now. This story is not one to be missed, and I highly recommend it. But have a nightlight app handy, just in case.

You can read all about the Warrens and a couple of their cases on their official website here.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess