#*the conjuring

Day 27: The Conjuring (2013) dir. James Wan When the music stops, you'll see him in the mirror standing behind you.

"Diabolical forces are formidable. These forces are eternal, and they exist today. The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow."

part two.

THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT - 2021, dir. Michael Chaves

It was very good! Everything I had hoped, and consequently a lot better than I actually expected. The special effects, casting, and costuming were all excellent, and the sets were absolutely beautiful. Pacing is definitely a strength for this film; it's perfect up until the last bit of action, which is busy enough to shake the picture loose. (To the movie makers' credit, it very notably does not fall apart like so many horror movies seem to.) The best part has got to be the atmosphere that that pacing maintains for most of the movie. (Familiar material is going to charm anybody who's spent much time searching out a good ghost story, and the way in which certain spoiler elements were introduced? A very nice touch.)  The actual appearance of the most hostile entity was kind of iffy, but I'm inclined to give it an easy pass, as nothing on-screen is as creepy as imagined. They did a nice job dating this movie. It made me miss my childhood home. I'll happily watch it again. ETA: There were a few jokes, but they worked well as they were non-disruptive, and the movie made good use of Chekov's guns, but on the other hand that kid was old enough to understand walking through their dark house, while their parents are out of town, going "Mom? Dad?" they were likely to get answered, but not by their parents.