I hope this is the last trailer that Warner Bros. cuts for “The Conjuring,” and I hope the TV spots don’t reveal anything more than this.
James Wan made his name with the first “Saw,” and in many ways, he’s spent the rest of his career since then trying to establish that he is more than just that one movie. I am quite fond of “Insidious,” his haunted house movie from a few years ago, and that film helped him finally shake the idea that “Saw” was all he had to offer. I think once “The Conjuring” hits theaters this summer, he will finally put that behind him completely, and this will be the film that everyone knows now.
One of the highlights of this past weekend for me was spending some time with Lorraine Warren, who appeared on the Warner Bros. panel that I moderated for “The Conjuring,” along with James Wan and Andrea and Cindy Perron, two of the girls who lived through the events that inspired this film. Lorraine is definitely old now, and there’s a fragility to her that is a little deceptive. When we spoke, I got the sense that she’s still all there, still sharp, and that the events we see in this film remain fresh to her.
Obviously, how much of “based on a true story” you choose to believe is up to you, but Wan approached this with a great deal of respect for both of the families involved in the story. Because Wan treats everything as real, he manages to make some fairly familiar tropes feel fresh, and this new trailer does a nice job of laying out what kind of experience you’re going to have without giving away all of the film’s best moments. No easy trick these days.
If you’re really curious about the Warrens and their work, let me recommend a documentary that’s playing now on VOD called “My Amityville Horror,” which deals with Daniel Lutz, one of the kids who were part of the Amityville Horror incident, as he tries to cope with the way people perceive him and his own personal demons that exist because of his childhood. At one point, he goes to visit Lorraine Warren since she and Ed were called in to investigate back in the ’70s, and it’s obvious that she is one of the few people that Daniel deals with who does not make him anxious. He relaxes with her, and there’s no doubt that they shared something.
And here’s the new one-sheet for the film. Nice subtle key-art.
I’ll have an interview with Lorraine later this week, and “The Conjuring” will arrive in theaters on July 19, 2013.