Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Conjuring: A not so epic review


Disclaimer: Pictures of some scenes to the film was posted in this review that can spoil the movie. If you haven't seen it yet, I advise you to skip reading this post. Otherwise, take the risk.

These days, if you claim to love watching horror, suspense and thriller movies; and have your own blog page then you'll have this instant authority and power to critique and create your own detailed analysis and assessment of your favorite horror film. Everyone's a critic as they say. This is my first time to make a review in a conventional way so please bare with me.



The movie was a blend of husband-wife-relationship and everything-happens-for-a-reason mantra. It was packed with sudden feeling of excitement with a nervous pass of creepiness and terrors. Camera shot angles, visual photography, tones and moods in each scenes, the sounds and actors/actresses method of acting complemented each other. I had those moments were you have to hold your breath and wait for "pang-gulat" moments. 


TECHNICALITIES


For Audio effects, It had this certain sound effects for specific scenes that will let you know how it feels and how it sounded like in real life. For example, the sound of a creaking tree when there's someone hung on it, or how it sound like when you're trying to gather noises thru boom mic, footsteps, doors closing and what not made the film more thrilling. I just had one problem with the scoring. It were all recycled from Insidious. There were also some scenes were the right timing for inserting a scary and freaky sound was not synchronized well to create a particular atmosphere. Hence, "pang-gulat" factors were anticipated. You already know what will happen next and for me that's a very important aspects in creating an effective horror movie. Wan only used three colors (black, gray, brown) in this movie to set the eerie mood in each scenes but it defined the over all impact of  freakiness in the movie. The start was a bit risky since nothing is really happening but I believed it was needed to build the characters, so it was not a big deal for me. Editing was smooth. Make ups, costume designs and special effects were all great except for the blood -- doesn't look scary or gory at all. 

PLOT


The plot was perfect. Even the insertion of the story of "Anabelle the doll" as reference to the Warrens was good. The story and script was well written. The 'spiritual explanations' of the Warrens had a touch of sincerity that it imparted some knowledge in Me. I like how the story spins to the Warrens and Carolyn. I love how it transpired from Carolyn to Lorraine then Lorraine to Carolyn. 

METHOD OF ACTING


Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and Lily Taylor were all remarkable. They gave justice to their given roles. Highly exceptional without overdoing it. Patrick Wilson did a great job as a support to Vera Farmiga's role. It was like, he was doing really well but did not steal Farmiga's spotlight. Swabe lang kung baga. Lily Taylor, the main antagonist in the story was sensational. She was so genius that she separated the characters from normal Carolyn to Carolyn possessed perfectly. Vera Farmiga was astounding. She knows what she's doing. It was obvious that she meticulously studied her role very well and it showed. It showed in every scenes she had. The simple and little stares, facial expressions, her eyes and the delivery of lines were all flawless that it had a huge impact on Me. It was so perfect.

Some remarkable lines from Vera Farmiga

"Remember what you had told me"

"She's feeding her"

"..It latched to your family and its feeding of you"

"You won't, let's finish this together"

"God brought us together for a reason... This is it"

Two scenes with the same required acting but Vera did it with two different styles and attack.

First time she saw April's toy.


Second time she used the toy. 



Notice the eyes?




All in all, The Conjuring was something to remember as a reference for scary movies. A much better creation of Wan compared to Insidious. And if rumors were true that another two stories from The Warrens is now cooking then I should say that the next would be another hit. However, since mataas ang standards ko sa horror movies and this one did not give me that goosebumps all throughout the film....

Rotten Tomatoes gave them a rate of 86% but I will score this as 7.5


23 comments:

  1. i have yet to see the film in the cinema. but i've already seen a bootleg copy. i think it would be better seen on the big screen than on my pc.

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    1. Yes! You need to watch it sa big screen. I've seen the movie twice, sa pc and sa movie house at ang laki ng difference. Mas nakakatakot sa movie house.

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    2. wala siyang effect sakin pramis. mas natakot pa ako sa insidious at sinister.

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  2. Somehow, I felt that this movie was hyped.

    Not a fan of horror/suspense/gore movies. Never gonna watch any again. Hahaha! If you will going to discount Filipino horror movies, the last I saw was the first installment of Saw and that was waaay back in highschool.

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    1. Filipino horror movie-- saw? Hehe!

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    2. it was hyped. i was even seeing some posts of fb about having a priest for blessing chuchu. walang kwenta.

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    3. Kapag di kasama fil horror movies, yes saw ang huli ko napanood.

      wait. totoo ba yung sa priest?

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  3. I agree with your review. However, when I watched the movie, I watched it as a mere audience, not as a critic. So I didn't notice what you had observed. I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was time not wasted.

    There's one thing I noticed though. Much like Insidious, there was a scene or two that I think was meant for comedic purposes. I find it weird, in contrast with the film's mood.

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    1. Actually, I watched this film twice just to give justice sa paggawa ko ng review. I looked stupid nga eh kasi I was taking down notes pero sa pc naman ako nun nanood.

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    2. Really? What was that two comedic scenes? Hhhmm.. didn't notice that huh'

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  4. Naaayyyy... di ko pa siya napapanood actually. Pero na spoil na ako ng bongga ng kapatid ko ahahaha! Siya na ang nagbigay at nagkuwento ng sarili nyang synopsis about the movie lol.

    and....

    Naka download pala siya ng copy ng movie at nandito sa lappy. Pero seriously, di ko pa siya napapanood until now >_<

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    Replies
    1. Nakakainis yung ganun na nagku-kwento.

      Panoorin mo pero make sure naka headset ka ah para ma appreciate mo

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  5. I was kinda disappointed in the sense na ang taas kasi ng buildup sa movie and from the comments that I've heard, and I saw so many resemblance from Insidious kaya medyo hindi na rin ako natakot or nagulat.

    But nice review of the movie... Hoping to see and read more, I'm a huge fan of horror movies :)

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    Replies
    1. Korek! Tumaas expectations ng tao dahil sa hype.. Isa pa pala yung paglalagay ng highlights ng movie sa trailer. Kaasar yun!

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    2. onga sa trailer kasi parang super creepy eh ahaha

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  6. basta i dont want to watch this alone ahahaha.

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  7. Detailed ng review. Nanosebleed ako. Lol.

    May pirated version na dito sa bahay, pero ayokong panuorin ng walang kasama. Hahaha.

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  8. i liked the film though masyadong hyped dahil hindi naman ako natakot. (well fine may isang beses nagulat ako. haha)

    for me it's a family drama wrapped in a horror box and it's fine. hehe

    insidious is scarier.

    well compared to other possession films mas creepy ang emily rose and of course ang classic na the exorcist.

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