In order for a movie to be considered a horror film it must scare its audience. Effective
ways of doing this getting those scares are establishing a threatening villain, creating tension, and
causing distress to the audience. These are only a few of the necessary elements, but many
movies fall short of this basic benchmark. One movie that meets these criteria and surpasses
them is The Conjuring. From the camera angles to the auditory tricks, the cinematic techniques
in this film are flawless. The Conjuring is an effective horror film.
The Conjuring, set in the 1960’s, is set in an old countryside house that the Perron family
has just moved into. Throughout the film the family is terrorized more and more by paranormal
events until they can no longer take it, so they request the help from Ed and Lorraine Warren; Ed
and Lorraine are esteemed paranormal investigators. After the Warrens arrive, the problems only
increase in intensity.
The director, James Wan, creates tension throughout the film to slowly build up to quality
scares. Tension starts before the actual movie when the Warner Bros logo appears. The music,
with both deeply grumbling and high screeching notes, grabs the audience’s attention setting an
eerie tone for the film. James Wan uses dissonance throughout the film to cause chills and a
sense of impending doom. This use of dissonance gives one anxiety and alerts the audience to
something awry. The first use of this signaling is the day after the Perron family moves into their
house. As the youngest daughter, April, runs around the exterior of the house the camera pans
above her as if something is watching her. She turns the corner, a jarring sound of string
instruments playing in the back ground, and looks horrified, but the audience can’t see what
brought her such discomfort. Sometimes the film will go dead silent in order to grab the
viewers’ attention. These elements create a hard film to turn away from.
Over the length of the film more is revealed about the antagonist. At first, things go bump
in the night. First, clocks start stopping at 3:07, then pictures start falling off the wall at night.
Soon, the villain, later revealed as an evil spirit named Basheba, gets more daring. The evil spirit
yanks one of the girls from the bed, slams doors shut, and reveals to one daughter than she wants
the whole family dead. From Ed and Lorraine’s paranormal investigations, we learn that Basheba
was a witch that cursed the land, professed her love for Satan, and hanged herself. The full
development of the villain makes her more real to the audience, giving her haunting a deeper
meaning. She isn’t just a random spirit messing with the family. She’s an angry spirit haunting
the family that now resides on her land.
The camera angles throughout the film create an experience few films capture. As the
Perron family first arrives to the dilapidated farm, the camera views them from inside the house.
The audience sees them like someone peering through their curtains. Paired with this filming
technique, the lighting helps set an unnatural tone. While the family pulls up to the farm, outside
it is a beautiful day; however, the inside of the house is dark and full of shadows. This contrast
represents the evil waiting for them in the house. While some movies use gyroscopically
balanced cameras, the director allows the camera to move fluidly. The movie gives a feeling like
it is being view through the eyes of Basheba not a camera. The only time a shot is still in the
movie is when it slowly zooms in or out to bring attention to a setting.
The Conjuring successfully achieves its goal as a scary movie. From the motion of the
camera creating a super natural viewing to the gut-wrenching music, this film leaves its audience
glued to the edges of their seats wondering when they’ll be scared next. Not only does the film
scare its audience, it leaves the viewer paranoid once the film is over. The villain appeals to the
evilest of humans creating an incomparable sense of dread.