The Conjuring uses every stock scare in the horror movie playbook for a dumb, yet charmingly traditional haunted house picture that manages to feel more retro than rehashed.
This is no classic, but director James Wan is a deft conductor who orchestrates the scariest ride of the season from threads of familiarly black melodies.
By all means, feel free to initially underrate this finely crafted and genuinely scary production. Making such a mistake will only serve to leave you more impressed (and slightly rattled) than you might have been.
Wan ... builds the many bumps in the night into a small Hitchcockian symphony of terror by way of long, eerie tracking shots, dramatic silences, and sudden scares that are frighteningly immersive.
At best, "The Conjuring" is a drop or two of rain in the middle of a decades-long horror drought. It won't tide anyone over for more than a couple hours.
