Roger, Carolyn and their five daughters move into a ramshackle farm house in Rhode Island. All is well except the dog Sadie won't enter the house and the cellar is boarded up. The next morning Carolyn wakes up to a strange bruise and Sadie lying dead outside the house. Strange entities begin to infest the house and hassle the residents. Carolyn calls in Ed and Lorraine Warren - psychic investigators - who say that the house needs an exorcism but they require consent from the Catholic church. Research indicates an evil witch called Bathsheba, who offered up her children as a sacrifice to the Devil, died in the house and left a curse behind. It is up to the Warrens to get evidence in order to gain permission from the Church for an exorcism but Bathsheba's spirit is irate and murderous and will do everything she is capable of - including attempting to kill some of the daughters as she possesses Carolyn's body and mind. An exorcism is a must, even without permission, but can Ed and Lorraine overcome the wickedness of the formidable Bathsheba? One of the best critically regarded horror movies of 2013, most people agree that The Conjuring is a good, solid scare made in the same old school horror way as The Exorcism and The Amityville Horror. It is refreshing to see James Wan try to get away from his 'torture porn' roots in Saw and directing a film that has no gore, no swearing, no gruesome murders - but remains effectively creepy and is vastly more scary than Saw. Excellent characterisation is key to the effectiveness of The Conjuring, and I can see it bringing many new converts to horror films that the likes of Saw would not bring. Genuinely terrifying and well constructed, there is no whiff of sleaze or sadism in the film and it is the best horror film that 2013 produced. Kudos to James Wan. Did we miss any of your favourite horror films of 2013? Share your own favourites in the comments thread below.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
