Ellen Page is indeed “pretty” as Sylvia Likens; a lot prettier than the girl her character is based on. The broad title doesn’t do her justice. This is a story of not just An American Crime but domestic abuse blatant and extreme enough to reach levels of maudlinism. The plot seems improbable; family and friends joining together to beat and torture one frail teenage girl; but it’s actually whitewashed. The real-life accusations are even worse.
my rating : 3 of 5
2007
The prelude, which introduces “paranormal investigators” Ed and Lorraine Warren via their Annabelle Case, is silly, but the following story begins decently enough. It has a family; a husband and wife along with their five daughters; moving into a house in Harrisville, Rhode Island. The year is 1971 and, despite a janky furnace, the retro vibes are warm and inviting.
It’s when the spooks begin; the house is, of course, haunted; that things start to get silly again. Perhaps The Conjuring, with a less ominous title, would’ve been better as a light Brady-Bunch-like coming-of-age story. As is, the movie, which is supposedly based on a true story, with all its lazy horror genre clichés, gets more and more ridiculous the longer it goes.
my rating : 2 of 5
2013