If The Conjuring was shorter and a pilot for a tv series about a demon fighting couple, it would make a great show for the CW, but it isn’t. The Conjuring isn’t awful, but it isn’t great. The Conjuring is a prequel to the Amityville Horror. If you like The Conjuring, it is because of the cast. I know definitively that Ed and Lorraine Warren’s prayers got answered because casting Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as them respectively is flattery of the highest order, especially if you have seen My Amityville Horror. There is no world where the Warrens seem similar to Wilson and Farmiga even for the visually impaired. The Conjuring’s main flaw was not simply focusing on the Warrens, but splitting the focus between them and the events leading to their latest case. When The Conjuring focuses on the latter, even with such eminent actors as Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston at the helm of that section, The Conjuring slides into tedium and isn’t scary if you have ever seen a horror movie before. The section of The Conjuring with the Warrens crackles with something new. For the Warrens, the supernatural is part of daily life, another day at the office and another night at home. They even visit houses and reassure inhabitants that there is nothing to worry about, the house is just old with bad plumbing. Unfortunately The Conjuring fails to create a plausible plot scenario, which may be the fault of its real life inspiration, or the filmmakers reluctance to depart from exorcist tropes, but Wilson and Farmiga do a terrific job making the ridiculous seem reasonable.
SPOILERS
Ed Warren is reluctant to resume fighting evil with his wife because he is concerned for his wife’s psychological safety yet The Warrens keep their work-evil possessed objects- at home with their daughter and mother/mother-in-law. They believe that only the Catholic Church is authorized to exorcise demons, but confuse demons with ghosts later in the movie. The Salem Witch Trials missed one authentic witch who killed her kid because it gives her more power (there were no witches for those readers who are historically challenged and now we know the difference between Wiccans and those who practice dark arts so I would personally prefer that movies start reflecting this distinction too). How do we know that is true? Because…..look, books and stuff. If Wilson and Farmiga weren’t delivering these lines with a suitable amount of somber seriousness, loving concern, conviction and commitment to each other, I would have been laughing uncontrollably on the floor. If the script was better, I would have cheered on Wilson and Farmiga’s God ordained demon fighters and begged for more. They were loving with a hint of sexuality, reverent and ordinary, at turns going through the motions and other times nervous, but trying to hide it, not over the top and scene chewing like most demon fighters. I’m actually a believer and am disappointed that I still have to wait for Protestant demon fighters who are normal people and wouldn’t keep their work at home. (Pardon my French, but burn that shit and send the demon to hell in Christ’s name.)
