The Conjuring (Film Review)

2013 Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema
Directed by: James Wan; Written by: Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes
Starring:Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, and Lili Taylor
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 112 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10

Something's going bump in the night in the Perron's house, and in the daytime, too. The kids are hearing voices, doors are slamming, mother Perron's waking up with weird bruises. When the existence of evil forces in the house become impossible to deny, and those forces grow more malevolent by the minute, who are the Perrons gonna call?
"The Warrens" doesn't quite have the same ring as "Ghostbusters," but The Conjuring is supposed to be based on a true story, and The Warrens were the real-life paranormal investigators who looked into it...so, the Perrons call the Warrens.
Demonic possession and haunted houses have been done in film so many times, and The Conjuring adds nothing new to the mix. Even its "based-on-a-true-story" tag has been done again and again. However, The Conjuring contains an air of reverence for its subject matter, and in particular, its demonologist duo, the Warrens, that at least lends it a slightly different tone. Stars, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, spent extended time with Lorraine Warren (her husband had sadly passed by this point), to make sure they did the couple justice. At times, The Conjuring almost feels more like an extended slice from a biopic of the Warren family than a film about the Perron haunting. This nearly bookish and studious tone rams headfirst into its more terrifying aspects, as...
The Conjuring was given an "R"-rating by the MPAA simply because they found the film to be terrifying. There's not really any adult language (the scenes not involving demons could almost come from a Christian family film) and the violence isn't any more graphic than anything in The Ring or numerous other PG-13 horror films. I guess this is a testament to director, James Wan, and his skill at throwing frightening images at the lens. Wan does a good job of blending mounting horror and dread with the demonic attacks at first being subtle, then becoming slightly more corporeal (think evil figures hiding out in the background), before all of a sudden you've got evil hanging figures swinging down from the ceiling with their feet dangling in your face, and grotesque, disfigured faces with glowing eyes flitting in and out of the shadows. Yep, nothing that hasn't been done before, but in-between straightening its glasses, The Conjuring does get the job done well enough, though I believe the R-rating is completely overblown, and a bit of a puritanical overstep by the MPAA. The Conjuring is not that scary. And yet, I do feel an affinity for this film, and I believe I can identify why:
To completely invalidate what I said earlier, I do feel like The Conjuring adds something a little new to this well-worn premise, and that's the married couple aspect. I did feel genuinely moved watching the Warrens work together, especially when their lives become imperiled and they fear for each other's safeties late in the film. That's a testament to the skill of Wilson and Farmiga, as they really sell the love, care, and respect this couple have for one another. I was more frightened for the physical and psychic well-being of their characters than I was of any of the house-of-horrors imagery the film displayed. Maybe it's a well-balanced working marriage the MPAA finds so ghastly?