Cinema Horrors and The Conjuring

IT'S only fair that my review of the horror flick, The Conjuring starts right from the cinema I was at. I don't know if it's an accepted norm or just bad-upbringing that leads to poor level of civic-consciousness at the cinemas here (in Qatar). For most part of this much awaited movie (I love horror), I was too distracted by the inhumane spirits around me rather than the demons in the show. 

Why? Just when the movie began, a man on the front  row kept his radio/ mobile phone/ whatever gadget switched on and publicly aired the complete Azan (Muslim call for prayer) for the time. So I was trying hard to catch what the freaky doll, Annabelle was all about in between the Azan and feeling completely appalled by the grace with which everyone around him accepted it like it was home and prime time news. 

What's with talking, having full conversations in the cinema! The two women, just two seats away from us, did nothing but talk through the entire movie. Talking to each other and others on the phone. While at it, they also constantly grabbed food from a bag, munching and eating quite audibly too. I mean, silence is golden when watching a horror movie, right? Especially a horror movie. It wasn't just them. Some others were talking too, not whispering but talking at an annoying decibel. Then walked in a group of girlfriends 20 mins after the show had started and the first thing one of them did was to snap a shot of the screen. Flash photography, yes! Another woman, a big woman in that all-covering abaya (cloak for women), paced along a row during the show while on the phone like it was a walk in the park. I don't know how bad the obstruction was for those behind her but no one complained. 

Sorry. That sounded like a rant more than anything but you see my frustrations. 

Vera Farmiga plays Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring

The Conjuring. I liked it. 

4/5 stars. 

When you can actually Google the real people and places involved in the events and the search turns up those old, black-and-white photos, that's when it gets reaaaally real. Creepy because the movie is based on a true story. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (think The Amityville Horror) help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Clean storyline with a badass, malevolent demon. Predictable but with the spooks. A ghost story with a sort of happy ending (not a spoiler, you're bound to establish this from the start of the movie). 

I loved the entire dark, 70s feel about the farmhouse and the creepy under-the-bed, above-the-cupboard, at-the-door and in-the-basement scenes with suspenseful silence, minimal digital effects and no gory details. I suppose real ghosts don't just burst out of the floor like a volcanic eruption with an equally dramatic background composition (think Mama). This show may even end up as a classic several years down the road. 

Depending on your beliefs, shows like this answer and raise many questions about the paranormal. I believe that good and evil co-exist so it answered some questions while also bringing me to the question of how much evil can there really be. So much force, hatred, bitterness and just pure evil energy to the point of deliberately needing to hurt people. That's a lot more terrifying than a door swinging open independently or footsteps heard from the empty unit upstairs. 

Maybe you shouldn't think much. Just go watch it with a date.