The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. It is the first installment in The Conjuring Universe. A red carpet premiere was then held for the film at Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles on July 15, 2013. The Conjuring was released in the United States and Canada on July 19, 2013, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. A sequel, The Conjuring 2, was released on June 10, 2016.

Plot
In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) Warren, are summoned to the home of Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) Perron. The Perrons and their five daughters have recently moved into a secluded farmhouse, where a supernatural presence has made itself known. Though the manifestations are relatively benign at first, events soon escalate in horrifying fashion, especially after the Warrens discover the house's macabre history.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are flawless casting choices for Ed and Lorraine Warren.
 * 2) Amazing acting and performances.
 * 3) A brooding yet horror-stricken setting/environment.
 * 4) Decent cinematography.
 * 5) Bathsheba Sherman is a malevolent and sinister antagonist.
 * 6) Interesting characters that relate to the story.
 * 7) It stays almost very true to the events the film was based on.
 * 8) The soundtrack is pretty decent, capturing some of the horror vibes that the movie’s giving and also gives off some 70s vibes since the film takes place in the 1971.
 * 9) Very nightmarish visual effects.
 * 10) The sequel that followed it is just as good, if not better.
 * 11) Well-done story development.
 * 12) A very heartwarming and satisfying ending for the viewers.
 * 13) A very brooding and mysterious accurate setting that ties into the story.
 * 14) The origins of Bathsheba Sherman's devil-worshiping is very tragic and serves a great purpose to the plot.
 * 15) Joseph Bishara gives an a outstanding (and very fitting) musical score and also a scary, brilliant performance as Bathsheba.
 * 16) Overall, it started the Conjuring Universe on the high note.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The possessed Annabelle Doll looks absolutely nothing like it does in real-life and the doll’s appearance is far-too terrifying (in a mediocre way). There is an explanation for this, however, since it didn't have the budget to purchase the rights to the Raggedy Ann doll toy company that made the doll.
 * 2) The film doesn’t stay 100% true to the real-life events of the Perron Hauntings.

Reception
The Conjuring received generally positive reviews, who praised the performances, direction, screenplay, atmosphere, and musical score. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 86% approval rating, based on 207 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Well-crafted and gleefully creepy, The Conjuring ratchets up dread through a series of effective old-school scares." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an "A-" grade on a scale of A to F.

Trivia

 * The real-life Lorraine Warren makes a cameo during the scene where Ed and Lorraine are lecturing a crowd of people on a past exorcism they performed.
 * By mid-2009, the property became the subject of a six-studio bidding war that landed the film at Summit Entertainment. However, DeRosa-Grund and Summit could not conclude the transaction and the film went into turnaround. DeRosa-Grund reconnected with New Line Cinema, who had lost in the original bidding war but who ultimately picked up the film. On November 11, 2009, a deal was made between New Line and DeRosa-Grund's Evergreen Media Group.
 * The producers did not use the likeness of Raggedy Ann, partially due to potential trademark issues and partially to make the doll's appearance more unsettling for a horror film; its appearance has been described as a "terrifying porcelain doll that is disfigured and immediately menacing".