The Conjuring (2013) and Poltergeist (1983)

Last weekend I went to see The Conjuring, a new thriller now in theaters. I was curious about it because I heard good things from other bloggers and reviewers, and was intrigued that it was inspired by true events surrounding a real haunted house and the ghost hunters (a real-life couple) who investigated it in the 1970s.

This is a well-made motion picture that I'm highly recommending. It's the kind of movie that gets scarier and scarier as it progresses, and might not be everyone's cup of tea. But every now and then some of us are in the mood for a good "haunted house movie", and this film really raises the bar. I'd say it's destined to become something of a memorable classic in years to come. There are terrific performances by Vera Farminga and Lili Taylor, who deserve some sort of recognition come awards time next year. Especially Lili Taylor - what her character has to endure in this film is gut wrenching.

The children in The Conjuring have demanding roles, too. There are 5 young girls and each has a unique "encounter" in the house. Needless to say, there is alot of screaming.

The investigators in The Conjuring are played by Vera Farminga and Patrick Wilson, a husband-and-wife team. At the start of the movie, they are giving a lecture, and we immediately understand that they are always "in demand". As the movie progresses we learn about their history investigating paranormal events, and about their relationship together.  And they make a lovely couple on screen; the movie is just as much about their love and endurance as it is about the family in the house. If you like investigator "couples" like the ones on "The X-Files" or "Bones", then you might like this movie.

I found The Conjuring to be an impressive film and highly recommend it.

I was also in the mood to rewatch Poltergeist on DVD the same weekend. I saw that movie on television when I was about 10 and will never forget how much it scared me, and how much fun it was to talk about with my classmates the next day. I don't remember the scene with the parents smoking marijuana, though - that part must have been edited for television or flown over my head back then.  A couple of take-aways from my rewatch: I really liked how the cemetery fitted in with the whole haunting situation. And I liked how technology was used to record the ghosts - that was very creepy.  (The Conjuring features innovative audio and video recording techniques, too). I forgot how integral Beatrice Staight's character was in the movie; she plays a scientist at a local college who visits the house. I really like the scene she has when she consoles the young boy.  And her campus office looked like the same one that the paranormal investigators played by Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd had in Ghostbusters. 

The children in Poltergeist are memorable - who can forget Carol Anne and how she "talks" to the ghosts in the static on the TV. By the way, seeing all that "TV static" made me nostalgic for that again; I guess we'll only see that in old movies now. By the way, there is even a quick shot of television static in The Conjuring, which may or may not be an homage to Poltergiest. (Conjuring is set in the early 1970s, and we also see the children watching Brady Bunch, too).

The clairvoyant in Poltergiest is played by Zelda Rubenstein, who passed away a few years ago. Her character in this film has to be one of the most memorable characters in the history of horror cinema, if not cinema. As soon as she comes on the screen, you know the ghosts are going to get their asses kicked.

I also rewatched Poltergiest II: The Other Side (1986) and Poltergiest III  (1988) for the first time. I don't have much to say about them except that they are both inferior sequels. The last time I saw Part II was in the theaters more than 25 years ago and the only scene I remembered was the part where the boy's braces attack him; that scene is ingrained in my brain for life. Everything else about the film is pretty awful, especially the preacher ghost who's something of a ripoff of the Robert Mitchum character in Night of the Hunter. Part III is even worse; the name "Carol Ann" is screamed or yelled over 100 times and is totally annoying unless you are playing a drinking game.