Revisiting THE CONJURING in 4K

THE CONJURING (4K UHD)

2013 / 112 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

The Conjuring was sort of a breath of fresh air back in 2013. In a genre glutted by remakes, sequels, rip-offs, torture porn, gorefests and PG-13 bubblegum aimed at the mallrat crowd, along came this earnest, atmospheric and genuinely scary horror film that managed to terrify millions with a total on-screen body count of zero (unless you count the poor pooch). You’d have to go all the way back to the original Poltergeist for another film to manage the same feat.

And like Poltergeist, a major reason its scares and tension are so effective is because the film takes the time to get us invested in its characters. Think about it…the entire foundation of the Conjuring films (not the spin-offs) is built around a married couple who in-real-life were basically paranormal con artists. But whether or not we actually buy into their history ultimately doesn’t matter. As depicted in the films, not only are the demons real, Ed & Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga) are sincere, dedicated (to their jobs and each other) and above all, extraordinarily likable. 

In an awkward moment, Ed and Lorraine accidentally thread a movie made when they were young and needed the money.

Two solid sequels (with a third around the corner) and a half-dozen inferior spin-offs later, the original film remains the best of the entire franchise, and arguably the best to deal with demonic possession since The Exorcist. Though the intensity, dread and jump-scares don’t have same impact as seeing them the first time (preferably in theaters), The Conjuring is always worth revisiting from time to time. 

Considering its legacy and influence on both the horror genre and popular culture, I’m kind of surprised we’re just now getting a 4K UHD edition. Of course, the film is worth having in any horror collection, but the picture and sound quality of the 2013 Blu-ray version was already pretty damn good, so whether or not it’s worth a 4K upgrade largely depends on one’s set-up (namely the size and quality of your TV). The black tones are a bit deeper, the details a bit sharper, but save for ardent videophiles, the difference might be almost negligible. The DTS-HD 5.1 audio track is the same one featured on the Blu-ray edition, which is good enough that any new mix would probably be superfluous. This one also throws in a couple of brand new retrospective bonus features to entice collectors into upgrading. They’re entertaining but fairly short, meaning the primary appeal of this 4K edition is the video boost.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NEW KIBBLES - Scariest of Them All and Reflections on The Conuring are a couple of retrospective featurettes. Each runs around seven minutes and features interviews with various cast & crew, as well as behind-the-scenes footage.

OLD KIBBLES (carried over from the original Blu-ray) - The Conjuring: Face-to-Face with Fear; A Life in Demonology (short doc about the Warrens); Scaring the “@$*%” Out of You.

DIGITAL COPY