The Conjuring

From the very beginning, the filmmakers of The Conjuring want you to understand that what you’re about to watch is based on a true story. Maybe they know that makes this story all the more terrifying. With any movie, we expect some exaggerations and liberties to be taken for dramatic effect, but when deciding how much of this horrific tale is true, I’d be left aghast at any of these creepy occurrences being true. The Conjuring tells the story of a case Ed and Lorraine Warren (portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) took in the early 1970s. Supposedly, it’s so terrifying that they decided to keep it under wraps, until now.

When the Perron family move into an old farm house, they start noticing some creepy occurrences. As the family happily walks into their new home, the dog refuses to go in. They discover a cellar that’s been boarded up. And soon strange noises happen. The youngest child starts talking to an imaginary friend. Another starts sleepwalking, always bumping into an old wardrobe. Soon, doors start closing, the mother has unexplainable bruises and one daughter sees someone behind her bedroom door. This case has it all and the family call the Warrens for help.

Shit really starts hitting the fan when the Warrens and their crew arrive to investigate. Lorraine, who is a medium, senses a sinister presence has attached itself to this family. She also can sense that horrible events have happened in the home and one presence wants to make history repeat itself. To save this family, there will have to be an exorcism, but the priest is on hold and they’re running out of time.

The whole setting is designed to be so dark and foreboding. That dog had the right idea to not even step foot in that creepy house. The inside feels like a cave; hollow, deep and dark. The walls are a creepy texture of gray with a touch of green for a sickly color. The whole house looks like no happiness could ever occur within those walls. Only fear, pain and tragedy.

This film has all the classic haunted house creeps ticked off and uses them effectively. Plus there are some jump scares, but they’re not the main source of scares. The use of the blindfold-clap game creates amazing suspense. Best of all, there’s enough well crafted, true terror to make this horror fan to look away to avoid nightmares. Like any good horror film should, there are some creepy images that are left burned into your mind after the film: hands reaching out of that wardrobe, a reflection in a music box, blood being vomited over a white sheet during an exorcism. You can’t unsee that.

What I believe makes this film so truly scary is the careful storytelling. We see these events unfold so organically around this family that we can relate to so easily that we cannot help but be pulled in and feel a part of this terror. And when Lorraine explains the history behind these hauntings, the story gets a whole level deeper and thrills viewers even more. By the crazy-intense third act, we are hanging onto our seats and crucifixes for dear life.

I do have one main gripe: movie starts out with story about a creepy possessed doll, Annabelle. While it’s cool and creepy as fuck, that’s not what the story is about, but is used as just a segway to the Warrens. I guess that’s why the film had the working title The Warren Files. It’s interesting and no doubt sets up interest for its own movie, but I wanted the focus on this story, it’s surely so rich and powerful it doesn’t need any fillers. Also, keeping a doll you know is possessed in your home with a kid around is just asking for trouble, even if you’re a demonologist.

Overall, The Conjuring is a truly scary movie and one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen. The dark setting, the uneasy suspense and horrific third act all add up for a terrifying ride. Whether or not you choose to believe, the based on a true story bit can make it even more horrific. I watched this film at home, in the middle of a hot summer day with my newborn son. I’ll admit that at one point I jumped so hard while holding him that he woke up and was not happy with me. And I tried my best not to think about this movie during his late night feedings. Unless you’re really not scared of anything, keep the lights on and don’t do it alone.

“There’s a lady in a dirty nightgown that I see in my dreams. She’s standing in front of my mom’s bed.”

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It Follows

There has always been a correlation between sex and becoming a victim in a horror movie, but never quite like in It Follows. In this film, having sex passes on a supernatural force, like an STD that will follow you until it literally catches and kills you. It always slowly follows the latest person to contract it and once they are dead, it goes back down the line to whoever passed it on last. Sex Ed class just got a whole new level of scary.

In It Follows, Jay (Maika Monroe) becomes the next to contract the follower. We get a few clues that there’s something creepy about her date, but it’s shocking when after their encounter in his car, he knocks her out with chloroform, ties her to a chair and when she wakes he explains exactly what she’s up against as a grim form slowly walks toward them, now coming for Jay.  Her friends have a hard time believing her, since they cannot see the following entity. Jay and her friends spend the film running from the follower and trying to get rid of it, before it catches up to them.

I can see some who haven’t seen the film shrugging the premise off. So what? A creepy thing follows you? Just keep moving, right? Yeah, but where would you sleep? Could you live a productive life without getting caught? The night after watching It Follows, I tried to calculate how far one would have to drive away from home each day in order be safe through the night. My midnight math didn’t look promising. I also hatched a half baked idea that the follower is the reason for the decline of Detroit.

Then there is the option of passing it on. Easy for a pretty girl like Jay, right? But how could you live with the guilt of cursing someone like that? And what if the follower catches them and you don’t know? You could never fully be free of the follower.

Obviously, it’s the idea behind It Follows that I found most intriguing, but the other aspects of the film are well done also. The score and cinematography set a perfect tone for this slow burning horror film. Jay and her friends are a good batch of friends to bring along for a supernatural adventure. And every scene with the follower inching too close for comfort is perfect. I enjoyed flipping out on my couch, telling Jay she better run.

If you enjoy a tight, suspenseful horror film that is light on the gore, It Follows is perfect. With the following entity always on the prowl, you can never fully relax and are suspicious of any person in the background. If you’re lucky, like me, it will worm its way into your mind and keep you up at night.

“You don’t believe me do you?”

Ju-On: The Grudge

Most of my readers are probably familiar with The Grudge films, however, they might be more familiar with the American remake and sequels.  This review is of the original Japanese version of the film released in 2002.  If you’ve never seen a Japanese film, or never felt the urge to seek one out, I strongly suggest trying this one.

After a family was murdered in their home, their spirits are seeking revenge on anyone who the house.  From the outside, the house seems a bit untidy, but nothing to really make anyone think twice about going in.  Strange things happen to people in a variety of ways.  Some see a little boy, others have visions of family members, others see a horrifying, dark manifestation of the spirit seeking revenge.  Still more terrifying, some don’t see anything until they’re out of the house.  They can be tormented and killed anytime, anywhere.

There are so many different characters having their own stories about how they encountered the home and were eventually picked off, it is hard to keep them all straight.  However, I don’t think that is a bad thing.  The fact that there are so many stories, from homeowners, friends, family to detectives and an innocent social worker, just proves how powerful and angry the spirits are that they cannot discriminate.  Besides, that means we get to see so many different ways these people’s stories end.

This film uses suspense and creepy images so well, they kept me up at night.  So many times throughout the film, you wait on the edge of your seat, knowing something horrifying it about to happen to the poor, already shaken character.  It’s great and never gets old.  And those creepy Grudgey ghosts, so pale, sometimes blue, with big eyes fixed with terror are wonderfully nightmare inducing.  At times, the more ambiguous forms seem to have come straight out of nightmares.  And they appear anywhere, under a table in a restaurant, on security cameras, or under your own blankets in bed!

One scene, just a moment in the film has really stayed with me and keeps giving me the creeps.  A day or two after seeing this, my husband touched the back of my head, and I jumped, immediately remembering the image of a hand touching Rika’s hair while she’s showering.  As she is rinsing her hair, she touches the back of he hand and feels another hand there!  Just as quickly as it happened, it is gone, but you know the terror is far from over.  The images are amazing, burn into your memory and come back at the slightest touch!

Ju-On: The Grudge is a great horror film that stays fresh tense from beginning to end.  The tension and suspense rises and falls perfectly between each story and continues to draw us in again and again.  Best of all, the variety of omnious and downright scary images are unique, uncanny and unforgettable.  If you like a good supernatural scare, and aren’t too concerned with being kept up at night, I must implore you see Ju-On.

“Who’s that boy upstairs?”

Gravity

As I watched the opening scene in Gravity, I was in awe.  Right away, just seeing these astronauts float around on a routine space walk, the film was beautiful and thrilling.  A few minutes in, a couple behind me in the theater remarked with a sneer, “Where are all the satellites and shit?”  Their sarcastic question was more than answered and they didn’t make a peep the rest of the movie.  I believe the whole audience was absolutely spellbound.

In Gravity Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer turned relatively inexperienced astronaut.  As she and more experience astronaut, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) work together, we understand that space is not her element, but perhaps an escape from her troubles on Earth.  During the opening space walk, satellite debris comes crashing at the astronauts, destroying much of the space station around them.  It’s a horrifyingly beautiful sight to see and clearly sets up the fear and danger of being stranded floating in space.  After the danger has passed, and Ryan and Matt are harnessed together, they realize their only chance of survival is to get to another space station, which means drifting through space in the right direction without running out of oxygen.

Many of the scenes are one continuous longshot.  In fact, the opening scene is over twelve minutes without a single break.  Granted, it is digitally edited from multiple takes to seamlessly flow into one continuous image, but still, my God their effect is amazing.  Hitchcock might have been green with envy of all the suspense they produce.

One thing that seemed to damper the film when it was first released was how many scientific inaccuracies could be spotted throughout the film.  For some people, that ruined it, if it’s not accurate then why care?  Personally, I don’t find the inaccuracies to be a problem, let it be fiction and if it’s good enough, I’ll believe what I want to.  However, when Ryan does nothing to stop those little bits of fire floating around the Russian space station, I got a little more ticked than concerned.  Floating fire does not seem like something a trained astronaut would ignore.

At ten nominations, Gravity is tied for the most nominated film of 2013 with American Hustle.  While American Hustle racked up the acting nominations, Gravity got its boost from more technical awards, including visual effects, cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing.  It is also nominated for Best Picture, production design, original score, film editing.  Alfonso Cuarón received his first Oscar nomination for best director and Sandra Bullock received her second nomination as lead actress.

Overall, Gravity is a captivating thrill ride of a film that clearly deserves all this Oscar love. From the moment those wayward satellites crashed in, to the very end, I was on the edge of my seat, nervous, excited and enjoying every minute.

“Because either way, it’s going to be one hell of a ride!  I’m ready.”

The Birds

The first time I saw The Birds, my dad turned it on television in the middle of the day.  He was so excited, telling me that the birds were going to attack and he was probably waiting for me to jump.  I must have been around seven, maybe eight years old then, so when he said attack, images from Godzilla and King Kong came to my mind.  Part of me was surprised and intrigued that these were not giant or mutant birds and they weren’t terrorizing a big city, but a sleepy little bay town.  It was a very different kind of monster movie, but unlike Godzilla and Mothra, it still scares me.

Based loosely off off Daphane Du Maurier’s novella, Hitchcock begins The Birds like it could become a screwball comedy.  While Melanie (Tippie Hendren) is waiting to pick up a bird from the pet shop, Mitch (Rod Taylor), a lawyer recognizes her from a past mishap she was in.  He lets her pretend she is an employee and she makes a fool of herself letting a bird loose in the store.  While she’s annoyed at him, there’s attraction underneath.  So as a prank, maybe to make her more appealing and mysterious, she drives all the way from San Francisco to Bodego Bay to deliver the pair of lovebirds he was shopping for.  As her plan to regain his attention is working and she is in the middle of practicing her innocent who-me? face, a sea gull attacks her.  That first drip of blood running down her forehead is only the beginning of a terrifying weekend of escalating bird attacks.

The more I see The Birds, the more I love to hate Melanie.  From that first scene in the pet shop, you can tell she’s a girl who has always gotten her way and doesn’t know how to be the butt of a joke gracefully.  Once she is in Bodega Bay, she is obviously a rich fish out of water, showing up in that sports car and fur coat.  These all seem like forgivable qualities, but in the diner just after that first attack, she becomes a compulsive liar, saying that she has known Annie (Suzanne Pleshette), the local school teacher, for years and she was not in town to see Mitch at all.  Maybe these birds have started to attack to punish this spoiled blonde girl with a history of skinny dipping in Roman fountains.  Perhaps she goes into that room full of birds as a self inflicted punishment.  Otherwise she’s just an idiot, which is just as easy to believe.

The big bird filled scenes can range from quietly creepy to explosive, literally.  When Melanie is sitting outside the school yard, we can hear the children inside singing.  They provide the perfectly creepy and repetitive soundtrack for birds to land quietly behind Melanie, who smokes a cigarette nervously.  That image when she suddenly sees all the crows on the playground behind her is amazingly unnerving and gets me every time.  It’s all part of the slow build, until the children run from the school and are violently attacked by the murder of crows.

My favorite scene from The Birds has to be when Melanie seeks shelter inside the phone booth.  A bird has just attacked a man at the gas station, causing him to spill gas and you can guess what happened when a man lit a cigar.  From the phone booth, Melanie has full view of all the chaos as it unfolds all around her.  As the fire spreads, a man driving is attacked by birds and causes a crash.  The firefighters lose control of a hose, spraying wildly at the phone booth.  A man covered in blood runs into the glass, a bird biting at his face.  Just when you think it can’t get any crazier, birds start flying right into the phone booth, breaking the glass, giving Melanie nowhere to run.

I sincerely hope that one day The Birds scares the shit out of my future children.  Even better, this may be the perfect film to introduce any kid to Hitchcock films.  Once the action starts, it picks up with great speed and can keep a child’s attention easily.  It is filled with great moments of classic Hitchcock suspense and the violent horror isn’t too graphic.  Plus, I personally love how this kind of horror feels so grounded into real life.  Something has caused the birds to attack people, and according to the bird expert in the diner, the odds are in their favor.

“It’s the end of the world!”

Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is one of my favorite films and has been for many years.  I remember first watching it alone late one night, sneaking around the living room when I was seven years old.  There was a lot that I didn’t comprehend, but the basics were all clear to me and a love of suspense was instilled.  Though this film is great anytime, a chilly fall evening with the haunts of Halloween right around the corner is a perfect time for first-timers to experience the perfect suspense thriller.

Today, it’s hard to have any knowledge of Psycho without some major spoilers, so please, if you have any innocence about this film, stop reading and go watch it.  Psycho starts out with a classic Hitchcockian woman on the run plot and takes an unexpected turn, making it a story of murder where the victim’s family is getting closer to danger while looking for the truth.  It stars Janet Leigh as the woman on the run, John Gavin as her lover, Vera Miles as her sister, and Martin Balsam as a private investigator.

One of my all time favorite film characters is Norman Bates.  At first sight, he seems like a quiet and kind young man, a dutiful son just looking after his sick mother and the family business.  However, even before the murder we can tell there is so much more.  The argument with his mother that Marion overhears is so telling and makes him seem trapped and tormented by her.  The conversation about stuffed birds and his mother, they go together a little too well.  And one of my favorite traits about Norman is his nervous chewing.  Whether Sam is firing questions too quickly or there’s a chance the swamp won’t hide his secrets, he is always chewing.  Why was Anthony Perkins not nominated for supporting actor?

When I first saw the shower scene, it was the most terrifying thing I could have imagined at the time.  I think back to my seven-year-old self, straining to hear the tv I kept so quiet, afraid to wake my parents and face certain punishment.  Things seemed to be turning around for Marion, kind young Norman had helped her realize she could go back and make everything better and that hot shower was washing away her sins.  I was such a good little Catholic school girl.  But suddenly that shadow creeped forward, ripped back the curtain.  Then that scream, and those piercing violins, I couldn’t breathe.  My eyes widened as the shots clipped rapidly between the reaching knife and vulnerable flesh.  Before my mind could comprehend what just happened, the murderous figure was out the door and Marion slipped slowly down that tile wall into a gruesome death.  The blood swirling down the drain helped me relax and I realized my hand was clamped over my mouth.  Maybe I had nearly screamed.  As I looked into Marion’s dead open eye for the first time, I blinked and consciously tried to control my breathing.  I had never seen something so unexpectedly violent in all my seven years and while I had just been scared stiff, part of me loved it.  It has been a rush that I’ve been searching for in great movies all my life.

It was years later that I learned how important Psycho was to the history of film.  Hitchcock put out a campaign that no one would be allowed into the theater after the screening of Psycho had begun.  What Hitchcock made law for Psycho just felt like common sense to me.  Before this time, I guess people just waltzed into the theater anytime within the showing, regardless of what they missed in the plot.  But Hitchcock was a genius and didn’t want to let his audience down, knowing how perfectly he had crafted Psycho.

Today, I hope no one comes in even a minute late to watching Psycho.  There is so much to enjoy from the very beginning.  Being a former art student, I love the opening credits by Saul Bass.  And that first conversation between Marion and Sam.  And the way the cop with the dark sunglasses is so menacing.  And every single moment in the Bates’ house is amazingly tense!  Believe me, you cannot miss one second of Psycho.

“Hate the smell of dampness, don’t you?  It’s such a, I don’t know, creepy smell.”

The Hurt Locker

I would dare to say that I’ve reviewed close to a hundred war movies on this blog.  Most of those deal with WWII, usually with a sense of pride and valor.  Coming in second would be Vietnam, with a more jaded and anti-war agenda.  Then there were some dealing with WWI, the Civil War and other wars spread throughout the history of the world.  Until The Hurt Locker, there was not one good movie made about the war going on in Iraq.

In a way, it seems that a typical war film has gone out of style at the Oscars.  Since 1998’s Saving Private Ryan, the only other nominated film focusing on soldiers in action was Letters From Iwo Jima, and that took on the Japanese perspective of WWII.  More often, we find war just to be the background and setting for twenty-first century films, like The Pianist or Atonement.

What I’m trying to say is that it takes a leap of faith and some real balls to make gritty modern war film these days.  Those balls belong to Kathryn Bigelow, who fearlessly brings us a story of men on an army bomb squad in an Iraqi city.  There, everyone is a possible enemy and nearly anything could be a possible bomb.  We quickly sense how nerve-wracking this life is.

It may look like fun at first, playing with the cool little robot to get a look at the possible explosive from a safe distance, but we quickly realize how things can go dangerously wrong in a flash.  The term kill-zone is used in the most accurate sense.  It’s scary to think of that as just part of a normal on-the-job vocabulary.

The Hurt Locker does some of the best moments of suspense in recent film history.  Paraphrasing Hitchcock, it is not the sound of the bang that brings suspense, it’s the anticipation.  Over and over throughout the film, we’re watching men defuse bombs.  That in itself screams suspense, but add in a reckless character, and his crew scouting out onlookers on balconies and rooftops wondering if any of them hold the detonator.  You won’t be able to take your eyes off the screen and won’t even realize that you’re holding your breath.

Men like Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) realize the constant danger far too well and becomes obsessed with the fact that he could be dead at any moment.  It’s not healthy to dwell on the risks of this job too much.  On the other hand, it doesn’t help that Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) puts himself in unnecessary danger.

James focuses on being on the brink of demise in a different way.  He thrives on it.  Like an artist in the zone, he is at his finest when he is trying to figure out how to defuse a bomb.  Simply put, he is a real expert about things that are meant to blow up and kill him.  There’s a feeling of swagger and power about him and he loves wearing the padded suit.  Besides taking rough chances, he is an excellent soldier.  Though it’s what he is best at, James isn’t the kind of guy who cares about medals or rank.  Under his bed, he keeps bits of bombs he’s defused, “things that nearly killed me” he calls them.  Back home he has baby son and ex-wife, those are the things he doesn’t know how to handle, so he keeps coming back to Iraq for more.

“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.”