In honor of 'The Conjuring,' which opens this Friday, here are director James Wan's four previous films, ranked from worst to best:
This Kevin Bacon revenge thriller is over-long, over-violent, and a total snooze. Designed as an homage to/reboot of Charles Bronson's 'Death Wish' movies, this film was a major step backwards for Wan. I often forget that this belongs in Wan's oeuvre, as it is both outside his usual horror genre and also just a terrible movie. Its sole purpose for existing is to watch Kevin Bacon torture and kill "bad guys." While it's definitely brutal, there are almost no redeeming qualities to make the experience worthwhile. When studying up for 'The Conjuring,' I would strongly advise you to skip this one unless you're a hardcore Bacon fan.
Lukewarmly received by critics and audiences alike, I would argue that 'Dead Silence' is Wan's most underrated film. Yes, it's campy, yes the dialogue is as wooden as the puppets the plot revolves around, but it also works as a modern-day homage to the horror films of yesteryear. The backstory of the wronged villain, the possessed dolls, and the gothic atmosphere are all borrowed from better films, but in a self-aware, respectful way. It didn't reinvigorate the horror genre like his debut (more on that later), but it at least has a much better sense of fun than 'Death Sentence.' Doesn't hurt that it stars Ryan Kwanten of 'True Blood' fame.
Probably the best horror film of 2010. It features a stellar cast (Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey), an inventive story, and terrifying visuals. It also manages to avoid one of the biggest suspensions of disbelief that exists in every haunted house movie: "Why didn't they just move??" (Hint: They do, only it doesn't help.) Though hampered by a third act that is significantly weaker than everything that came before it, for most of its runtime it is damn good film that provides some of the best scares in recent memory. 'Insidious: Chapter 2' is coming later this year.
Thanks to its menagerie of horrible sequels (none of which were directed by Wan), people often forget that the first 'Saw' was actually a great horror film. The 'Saw' franchise is now synonymous with gruesome Rube-Goldberg-esque traps -- which helped inspire the now-tired genre of "torture porn" -- but if you go back and rewatch 'Saw' now, I think you'd be surprised by how much more of a psychological thriller it is than any of the other movies in the series. The focus here isn't on the traps or gore (they do exist, albeit in much smaller proportions), but on the mental and emotional anguish endured by two men chained on opposite sides of a grungy, abandoned bathroom. The whole aesthetic of the movie -- the camerawork, the soundtrack, the editing -- is jarring and unsettling, creating an expert atmosphere of unease. 'Insidious' may be a more creative movie, but 'Saw' is Wan at his most confident, exhibiting a level of self-assurance as a director that he has yet to match.
'The Conjuring' is looking to be Wan's best film to date -- it has been garnering stellar advance reviews -- but we'll have to decide for ourselves when it scares its way into theaters this Friday. Check out the trailer here:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o[/youtube]
