“The Conjuring” is quite simply the most chilling movie I’ve seen in a very long time. It comes at you like a beast in the dark. Credits go to director James Wan (“Saw”, “Insidious”) who decides to use familiar techniques to haunt his audience. And damn it, it works like a charm. Based on paranormal investigator Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and his clairvoyant wife, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga), “The Conjuring” is basically an old fashioned haunted house thriller that boasts effective scares and a dark, mysterious mood. You’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat the minute you meet Roger Perron (Ron Livingston), his wife, Carolyn (Lili Taylor), and their five daughters who just settled into a lakeside Rhode Island farmhouse. Then all hell breaks loose. No fair revealing more plot details. But you should know that the reasons you won’t slip into a snooze is that Wilson and Farmiga play it for real and Wan and witty screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes work you over like pros. In a multiplex ready to bore us with Smurfs and stupid grown ups, “The Conjuring” thinks we’ll be better served by a haunted house flick that can fry nerves and tickle funnybones in high style. Go for it.

Rating: 3/4