15 Greatest Horror Films Of The Decade (So Far)

The Conjuring at times feels like a classic 1970s horror film that was just found and released into theaters today rather than a modern movie. It's iconic and wildly successful, taking the genre back to its roots.

The plot is pretty basic, following two paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, called to a Rhode Island house after a series of strange occurrences. It's not totally groundbreaking, but the movie takes that well worn setup and executes it in an incredibly effective but restrained way. It's unabashedly old fashioned, right down to its opening title card ripped straight from a 70s film. There's no self-aware irony that's often a symptom of this generation of horror.

What's really interesting about The Conjuring is that it's an R rated horror film with absolutely no sex, no profanity and almost no blood. It's R rated just for "sequences of disturbing violence and terror." It doesn't rely on cheap jump scares or crazy amounts of guts for shock value. Instead, it slowly builds a sense of dread and truly earns all its most terrifying moments. 

The opening Annabelle sequence is a great example of this, making the audience terrified of the doll even when she barely does anything. All the horror is left to your imagination. All throughout, James Wan understands that sometimes the mysterious, unseen darkness is the scariest of all.