By Charly SHELTON

This is the summer of super heroes. Iron Man. Superman. Wolverine. And now Ed and Lorraine Warren.

For those who are unfamiliar with the couple, they are the ultimate demon hunters. A married couple, Lorraine is an extremely sensitive clairvoyant and Ed is the world’s foremost demonologist. And unlike Iron Man and Wolverine, the Warrens are real. Most famous for investigating the Amityville Horror, the Warrens have delved into countless cases, finding evidence of hauntings or possessions and facilitating a solution when necessary, either through blessings or even exorcisms.

“The Conjuring” is based on a recently released case that the Warrens investigated in November 1971. A family moves into a home in the country where they start to experience strange occurrences. Bruises appear for no reason. Children are pulled out of beds by an incorporeal force. Laughter and voices are heard from another room that is found to be empty. Classic haunted house stuff. But then it gets worse.

A ghost is a human who died and is ambling around in the physical world as a ghost, as opposed to passing on to what comes next. They have a limited amount of power that they can manifest and they cannot harm the living. Any entity that can harm the living is a malevolent spirit, a demon. Something that, some theorize, has never walked the earth in physical form. They are the entities that posses the weak willed and an exorcism is required to dislodge the malevolent spirit from the host.

Revealing any more of the plot of the film would give away some of the better parts. As a paranormal investigator from years ago, I have always been interested in ghost hunting, though I rarely get out to investigate anymore. I did carry an EMF meter (electromagnetic field fluctuation reader) in my bag for at least two years. The point is this film is cool because it really does stick to what a real demon case would be.

Based on a true story, these movies can quickly spin out of control as the writers and producers want to “Hollywood-up” the films, making them more incredible and scary. This one was a bit over the top in places but about 90% of it was pretty believable based on typical demonic cases. Granted, the events are based on a true story as told by those involved, so it is only as good as their word. But for all the parties involved to corroborate the same details typical of demonic cases categorized as authentic years later, it is very impressive to get to where it is.

Not too scary, but definitely very entertaining and fascinating. Rated R, I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.

  Charly Shelton