Episode 309 - Conjuring Up A Podcast

[anthonydpmann]

This episode is inspired by true events. A discussion about the recent theatrical winner The Conjuring ended up expanding into a very loose director's spotlight of James Wan. It was an interesting look back at the brief filmography of a director who has until now focused entirely on the horror genre and delivered some truly impressive successes. From the original Saw film which arguably impacted the direction of the horror genre in whole for a number of years through to his latest Amityville Horror inspired haunted house story we discuss the highs and lows of a very interesting career path.

The massive hit that Saw became opened the doors for Wan to direct Dead Silence and Death Sentence. Very different films which both failed to perform at the box office. His recent (very) low budget possession flick Insidious again blew the doors off expectations resulting in another expanded budget opportunity The Conjuring which has cemented Wan's status. In looking back over films we have covered in the past, it allowed an opportunity to reconsider the issues and criticims levied to ultimately conclude that while the films are wholly unoriginal in terms of the basic storylines (yes, even Saw has a lot to owe to Seven), this filmmaker has a true visual eye and offers the genre fan earnest attempts to entertain with atmosphere and frights.

Other miscellaneous topics include the recent discovery of the lost Wicker Man footage, thoughts on Pacific Rim, Superman vs Batman, and a quick The Wire update. Shlock corner returns to the How It Should Have Ended animated shorts, this time riffing on Man of Steel with an alternative climax to the movie. Please consider a book club submission as we approach to next convening of the Horroretc Book Club.

[johnjohnny]

I already posted my thoughts about the Warrens, but thanks to Ted for touching on some of the things that rub me the wrong way about this couple. Still, these are entertaining stories and I'd like to see Wilson and Farmiga return.

As far as 'Pacific Rim' goes, this was my favorite movie of the year. It's a big cartoon. I don't understand why people can't wrap their minds around that. Movies and lit have taken a serious turn where even Superman was a bit of a downer, so it was refreshing to see a film like Pacific Rim get even crazier than the Voltron or Shogun Warriors toons. LOVED IT!

[jamtomorrow]

Superb podcast. Glad to hear Ted's well into The Wire! You have so much great stuff yet to come. In fact, I'm off to the suggestions section now...

[kosayn]

Seeing The Conjuring, I've decided that I just have a stubborn blind spot for James Wan's particular brand of horror. Usually a slow burn, supernatural horror movie played straight is exactly what I enjoy - I count slow, gentle stuff like Session 9 and the original Dark Water among my favorite horror films, and I even enjoy a little Ti West on occasion.

I liked the setting, the set, and the period elements of this film... and that made not liking the plot and scares even more of a letdown.

I'll be discussing the particular problems I had with it now. If you need a "spoiler warning," stop reading, but I'll go easy on the details anyway.

As far as the main antagonist, we didn't get much of a glimpse of how she behaved in life besides what we get from the other household antagonists, so I didn't feel like she was built up as a threat or as a monster at all.

The exorcism, I know all supernatural movies with a religious dimension have trouble with doing it very well. The one in 'The Possession' for me, rates as the worst and most damaging to its film in recent memory. Even in the Last Exorcism, a favorite of mine, it had to be approached carefully because it requires very good acting from the possessed person. I thought this one started and ended well, at least, but it certainly wasn't long, because there was only so much the characters involved had in terms of material to throw at each other. The way it was interrupted was really strange.

The doll looked scary, but wasn't intended to be related to the main plot, and had no real payoff. Also, it made sense for the doll and the Warrens' household to be involved as a diversion, and it's a cool place, but it didn't really impact the plot beyond simply moving the two investigators around. The vision leading to the diversion didn't correlate to the eventual threat. The threat to them personally didn't make them reconsider anything, or require any resolution, and also didn't seem to develop at a point when the Warrens were interfering any more than usual. It felt disconnected, though it should have been an opportunity for the plot to expand some.

The doll messages in the movie's intro didn't really seem to have a meaning, other than general harassment. Likewise with 3:07, is that biblical perhaps? Maybe some of this went over my head, but I felt the ghostly messages in general didn't add up to much.

I felt there were a lot of characters that, whether or not important to the 'true events,' were mainly there to keep us from having to focus on anyone too deeply. There were too many daughters, and they all had precisely one detail to their character. I didn't get much impression of why a specific daughter was targeted later; this is the sort of thing where family dynamics can make for interesting allegories to the supernatural plot, in the style of The Shining, but there was none of that; the family itself is standard and uncomplicated. The cop and techie characters did the mandatory skeptic and believer thing since nobody else would, and the cop couldn't act. The Mother & Father characters did all the usual things capably, but weren't really shown to make any major decisions based on what was happening to them. Even deciding to engage help from the Warrens happened off screen, and without debate. It made me yearn for the kind of character conflict that even a semi-scripted found footage film like the Paranormal movies could manage.

The Warrens got the most development, but even that didn't sit too well with me. It was the same old 'man trying to keep his woman clear of harm' vs 'modern couples should face danger together' trope, which was already old in the actual 1970s. The event in her past that scared her was also a letdown to me, after seeming like it would probably be interesting, had to be interesting, to anchor that kind of conflict between them as something worth exploring. But it was just a 'she got scared, and I couldn't bear to ask why' moment. I feel like in this example as in the whole film, the 'true events' just weren't enough, and they should have been embellished and reconsidered to make the tale interesting. But they wouldn't do that, or dig into any really negative character material, out of respect for the real people involved. I have zero investment in accuracy with this sort of movie.

Anyway, all that said, I am really happy that the movie seems to be a success, because I do like this KIND of horror film. I just find it really strange that so many people love them some James Wan, and so far, I don't get it. I probably just don't respond to his particular suspense techniques, since that seems to be what a lot of the screen time is spent on. I actually felt the jump scares and ending in Insidious salvaged it somewhat, because the first half all blurred together for me.

Maybe I'll have to go back and check out Dead Silence as well to reinforce this. I tend to forgive other horror movies a lot in terms of depth or originality if they're capable of scaring me.

[Woody]

So what did Doug do to p off Anthony on this episode?

[queen horror]

that's what I was wondering?