The Conjuring

A horror film set in Rhode Island in 1971. The Perron family moves into a house in the country. There are five girls, there is no money, and the house was bought at auction. It starts with small things. The clocks stop at the same hour, a door opens by itself, the dog will not come in, and a cellar door turns up behind a sealed wall. Then the nights get worse. The bed shakes, someone is pulled by the feet, and the mother wakes with bruises. The mother goes to a couple lecturing at a college. Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate cases for the church. From there the film is an investigation. The history of the house, a land record, a witchcraft trial, and a cellar beneath it. What the narrative is interested in is not ghosts but family: the film sets two families side by side and the Warrens' own daughter is put at risk. The method of the horror is old-fashioned. The tension is built with long scenes, silence, creaking boards and the space outside the frame; there is almost no blood. The clapping game is its best constructed section and uses one idea all the way through. The ratings board gave the film a high certificate, citing not blood, sex or language but only how frightening it was, which was discussed at the time. The production rests on the files of a real couple, and how true the events are has been argued over, including by the family. The film started a series and became one of the highest-earning universes in the genre. Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston are in the cast. James Wan directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes quiet horror built by classical methods. Who it is not for: anyone who dislikes sudden shocks; the film uses that device regularly too.