Comic Con Report: The Conjouring
By on Oct 15, 2012
Chiller was at New York Comic Con from October 12-14 and got the scoop on the new film The Conjouring. Set in the 1970’s, the film is based on real-life ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren. Directed by James Wan, it stars Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson (who worked with Wan on Insidious), Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston. If Poltergiest and Ghost Hunters had a baby, it’s name would be The Conjuring.
The clip shown had your classic jump scares, but it also did something that Wan does oh so well - use some good old fashioned special effects and makeup. Lili Taylor plays hide and seek blindfolded (!) with her children and scariness ensues. There is a witch haunting the home, and with no CGI, Wan managed to get screams and huge reactions from the Con audience. Just when you think it’s ok to open your eyes (or in my case, take your hands off your ears), it’s definitely not. Wan mixed in some found footage technique throughout and it gave the tone a grainy and vintage feel.
Wan told the audience he did his research by not going to the real house the film is based on but to the Warrens’ own home. The Warrens apparently have a back “haunting” room, in which they keep all of their items that they feel have supernatural attachments. Wilson said that being in the presence of the couple helped them truly get into character. Wan also said that he wants to pay homage to 70’s horror like The Haunted and The Amityville Horror, and wants the audience to feel like we traveled back in time to the `970’s.
When asked if making these horror genre movies puts Wan in a dark place, he answered by saying he’s actually a big old scaredy cat. He explained that putting the things that scare him up on the screen is his therapy and he just might have one more horror film in him. The man who asked the question also jokingly asked if Wilson was going to be in his next horror film, since he was also in his last. The panel laughed, but didn’t say no!
The Conjuring opens January 2013.
