Ensign Lestat's Film Log, 30/09/2013
I hate being so busy that I don't get around to writing any reviews. Especially when I have caught a few films over the past few weeks.
It was late on a Friday night that we went to catch 'The Conjuring'. Directed by 'Saw' maker James Wan, this charts the 'true story' of the Perron family, who, as all horrors go, have recently shifted to the back of beyond, in a large house that ably holds their family of seven.
Consequently, we are introduced to Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson), ghosthunters paranormal investigators who have a stable business going. The couple have a good working relationship, with Ed doing the investigating and Lorraine being a psychic.
The film focuses on both families, establishing the fact that they will soon become hideously intertwined.
It isn't long before strange occurrences start at the Perron household. It starts with the discovery of a blocked up basement. Why is it blocked up?
After this, the mother, Carolyn, (Lili Taylor) begins to show bruises, the children seem to encounter beings at night. And the youngest has long conversations with a boy who claims to have grown up in the house.
Eventually the family ends up camping in the living room, because they can't survive in their bed rooms. This is when Carolyn invites the Warrens to investigate. From the moment the Warrens enter, we know that Lorraine has spotted something. She keeps mum while they continue their investigations, before revealing that there are a lot of spirits in this house, and they're all malevolent.
Eventually exorcisms take place and the world goes back to normal.
That's the film in a very concise and rather unjust nutshell. This is a very well-made, well-paced film. It's more interested in introducing the families, and familiarising the audience with the families, than the scares. In the very beginning we're told about the history of the Warrens and it is established that this is a true story. The acting is on-cue and precise, not standing out, but not overreaching either.
I enjoyed the film, the scares didn't get me, though it scared the bejeesus out of a group in the far corner of our hall. The families were very likable, and there were spurts of humour that broke the tension. My sister loves Patrick Wilson - and I admit he's a wonderfully delightful looking man, and his easy chemistry with Farmiga made them a very believable couple.
Despite my enjoyment and sympathy for the family, I had a niggling doubt at the back of my mind throughout. My trouble with the film was that it didn't feel like a horror. Granted, we have some intense shots of the spirits, especially the main malevolent one, Bathsheba. But, and perhaps I feel this more in hindsight, the lack of scares was down to the fact that each shot of the ghosts appeared to be preceded by a prelude. Now, I can't really describe what the prelude was - the way the camera turned, the tempo in music changing sooner than expected, my own freaking imagination - who knows. We didn't spend all our time looking in the background (or the foreground, if you get my drift). The ghost would appear, but even then, it seemed, the director was more interested in introducing us to the spirits' characters, than to the scares.
This was a huge opportunity missed, because James Wan's 'Insidious' certainly had a fair few boo moments that kept our imaginations going. I don't remember that film very well, unfortunately, but I most preferred the last forty-five minutes, with its surreal setting.
It is, in fact, interesting to note that both films focus squarely on a mother at home with her children, and all that they go through. The father is a mostly absent figure. Up until the last forty-five minutes of 'Insidious', the dad may as well have not been written in (okay, I exaggerate).
Now, while I'm all for character development, that's not exactly what I want to see in a horror. Having said that, a film like Woman In Black, which was based on a book, created a fabulous atmosphere, built up several of the characters, while giving us a lot of scares, all intelligent ones.
That depth was lacking in this film, despite, as I said, the character development.
Now I'll come to my final, and most influential grouse. This film is based on a true story. With Hollywood it usually means they took somebody's pain and wanted to make money off it. Harsh, but why not, it is the truth. The trouble with claiming that a haunting actually happened is that the skeptics can't buy into it. In all honesty I firmly believe if the film had had no promotions (the teaser trailer on its own could have sold it) and if they hadn't informed us, beforehand and at the beginning of the film, that these people existed and these things actually happened, we may have bought into it a lot more. I think a story on the Warrens on its own would have been very interesting - a young couple on a crazy mission, with the mom-in-law and kid in tow sounds ripe for a Hollywood take.
But this film focuses on a particular event, and it, at all points, seems to try and establish that this is all real. So yeah, say Bloody Mary thrice in the mirror, and stuff will happen. I can't buy into that.
I saw a short interview with the actual kids of the Perron family, and they obviously made it out to be real. Now, I am not doubting their truthfulness - they believe these things happened, and perhaps some of the ghost stories actually have grounds in fact. But, I'm a skeptic. As much as I want to visit Lumley Castle to catch sight of one of ghosts that troubled the poor Australian cricket team in 2005, the majority of my brain knows that the story was made up to garner sympathy from the crazy fans who still loved them (my theory).
Hence, my biggest issue with The Conjuring was that my horror bubble was burst at the very first instance, and it could not be mended. Without that overwhelming atmosphere I couldn't get into the film world wholly. Which is a huge pity because it is a wonderful piece of cinema.
***Here be spoilers***
And, as I conclude this, I want to mention that, the following day, my sister sat down to research the fascinating Warren family, and found that their original hypothesis regarding the hauntings at the Perron home had been unfounded. The original malevolent spirit, Bathsheba, was claimed to have hung herself at the house and her wandering spirit had driven a mother to kill her son, and several other residents also committed murders and the like. In actuality, apparently, she did not kill herself, she lived an uninteresting life and died of old age.
I hate being so busy that I don't get around to writing any reviews. Especially when I have caught a few films over the past few weeks.
It was late on a Friday night that we went to catch 'The Conjuring'. Directed by 'Saw' maker James Wan, this charts the 'true story' of the Perron family, who, as all horrors go, have recently shifted to the back of beyond, in a large house that ably holds their family of seven.
The film focuses on both families, establishing the fact that they will soon become hideously intertwined.
It isn't long before strange occurrences start at the Perron household. It starts with the discovery of a blocked up basement. Why is it blocked up?
After this, the mother, Carolyn, (Lili Taylor) begins to show bruises, the children seem to encounter beings at night. And the youngest has long conversations with a boy who claims to have grown up in the house.
 |
| It's only just begun. Lili Taylor as Carolyn Perron. |
Eventually exorcisms take place and the world goes back to normal.
That's the film in a very concise and rather unjust nutshell. This is a very well-made, well-paced film. It's more interested in introducing the families, and familiarising the audience with the families, than the scares. In the very beginning we're told about the history of the Warrens and it is established that this is a true story. The acting is on-cue and precise, not standing out, but not overreaching either.
I enjoyed the film, the scares didn't get me, though it scared the bejeesus out of a group in the far corner of our hall. The families were very likable, and there were spurts of humour that broke the tension. My sister loves Patrick Wilson - and I admit he's a wonderfully delightful looking man, and his easy chemistry with Farmiga made them a very believable couple.
 |
| Wilson and Farmiga play the Warrens. |
This was a huge opportunity missed, because James Wan's 'Insidious' certainly had a fair few boo moments that kept our imaginations going. I don't remember that film very well, unfortunately, but I most preferred the last forty-five minutes, with its surreal setting.
It is, in fact, interesting to note that both films focus squarely on a mother at home with her children, and all that they go through. The father is a mostly absent figure. Up until the last forty-five minutes of 'Insidious', the dad may as well have not been written in (okay, I exaggerate).
Now, while I'm all for character development, that's not exactly what I want to see in a horror. Having said that, a film like Woman In Black, which was based on a book, created a fabulous atmosphere, built up several of the characters, while giving us a lot of scares, all intelligent ones.
 |
| Where to look? Background? Foreground? |
Now I'll come to my final, and most influential grouse. This film is based on a true story. With Hollywood it usually means they took somebody's pain and wanted to make money off it. Harsh, but why not, it is the truth. The trouble with claiming that a haunting actually happened is that the skeptics can't buy into it. In all honesty I firmly believe if the film had had no promotions (the teaser trailer on its own could have sold it) and if they hadn't informed us, beforehand and at the beginning of the film, that these people existed and these things actually happened, we may have bought into it a lot more. I think a story on the Warrens on its own would have been very interesting - a young couple on a crazy mission, with the mom-in-law and kid in tow sounds ripe for a Hollywood take.
But this film focuses on a particular event, and it, at all points, seems to try and establish that this is all real. So yeah, say Bloody Mary thrice in the mirror, and stuff will happen. I can't buy into that.
I saw a short interview with the actual kids of the Perron family, and they obviously made it out to be real. Now, I am not doubting their truthfulness - they believe these things happened, and perhaps some of the ghost stories actually have grounds in fact. But, I'm a skeptic. As much as I want to visit Lumley Castle to catch sight of one of ghosts that troubled the poor Australian cricket team in 2005, the majority of my brain knows that the story was made up to garner sympathy from the crazy fans who still loved them (my theory).
 |
| Speaking of which, Pat Wilson looks a little like former Aussie cricketer Brett Lee. Not seeing the resemblance? Not at all? You sure? Just me then. |
***Here be spoilers***
And, as I conclude this, I want to mention that, the following day, my sister sat down to research the fascinating Warren family, and found that their original hypothesis regarding the hauntings at the Perron home had been unfounded. The original malevolent spirit, Bathsheba, was claimed to have hung herself at the house and her wandering spirit had driven a mother to kill her son, and several other residents also committed murders and the like. In actuality, apparently, she did not kill herself, she lived an uninteresting life and died of old age.
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