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[Review] ‘The Conjuring House’ Is an Eerily Familiar Haunt With Some Great Scares

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the conjuring house screenshot

It’s one of the safest, yet most continually-successful horror story gimmicks around. The haunted house is a cornerstone of the genre and it’s something that adapts to every medium. Not to mention there are many ways to tweak and refresh the idea. James Wan and Leigh Whannel made a lucrative horror franchise about just that thing for instance. Games are no different, and the path of history is littered with spooky house-based titles. From the psychological (Fatal Frame) to the loveably daft (Luigi’s Mansion) and the psychedelic head trip (Layers of Fear). The Conjuring House by Rym Games is the latest in that lineage and it’s an sometimes effective haunted house adventure tied to some story substance. Is that enough though for such a crowded market?

Set during the early part of the 20th Century, The Conjuring House tasks you, a journalist, with investigating the mysterious death of the owner of Atkinson House. You arrive at the homestead and soon discover that you’re not going to be allowed to leave. A demonic woman holds power over the property and is a tad too insistent about haunting and hunting you. So you attempt to destroy a selection of occult artifacts in order to break her spectral grip.

Oh, and there are signs of occult rituals having taken place here. Y’know…for good measure. So it’s rather standard fare plotwise. An angry ghost, a need to escape, and a mystery to solve. You can probably see where this tale is going already, I’m not going to spoil it, but you’re probably right (albeit with more than a hint of Lovecraft thrown in).

The Conjuring House cherry-picks from other first-person horror titles and the wider world of haunted house tales. It then smushes it into a rather pretty (y’know, pretty for a demon-afflicted house) package. That’s not so much a criticism as an observation. Even something as novel as PT (which definitely served as a partial template for The Conjuring House) relied on mixing up some established ideas. Here, the result is a safe narrative with some expected plot beats, and that’s perfectly fine.

However, with a largely predictable by-the-numbers plot, The Conjuring House needs to deliver on the scares. Here again, it suffers somewhat from taking its notes from the rest of the class. The opening does a great job of building tension by toying with you. You’re vulnerable and relatively helpless against attack so hiding and running take up most of your time between puzzles. That earns the game a sense of almost constant unease, meaning you’re not sure when the respite will end and the pursuit will begin anew.

At its best, The Conjuring House utilizes this to good effect. The creaking of the house, the movement of furniture, and the game’s favorite trick, letting you see things out of the corner of your eye line are just some of the ways you’ll be pushed and prodded into dread. The ‘did I just see…?’ moments show enough that you’re not sure if you saw a demonic entity or just a shadowy headfuck. That’s usually played in a one-two with an actual appearance by Our Lady Demonica or some other monstrosity, lunging at you, shrieking with piercing intensity.

These moments definitely cause a reaction in you, but the build to them is not all that consistent. Sometimes the events that lead up to the jump scare will be almost a masterclass in pacing. Plenty of misdirects, fleeting glimpses, and escalation that reaches a deafening crescendo before collapsing into silence and nothingness. Then BAM, the sucker punch jump scare finally hits you and it is well earned.

Then there are the other times. Particularly as the game runs out of ideas towards the final act, where The Conjuring House may as well just have the wretched demon bang pots together at regular intervals for all the subtlety and nuance it has. Every scare trick is well worn before you even begin The Conjuring House. Thanks to better pacing in the opening hour or so, it isn’t too much of a sin. It’s towards the end, where things feel rushed and repetitive rather than bubbling to a natural manic conclusion, that it becomes something of an annoyance.

The demonic lady is the main antagonist but is not the only threat thankfully. Other strange horrors appear throughout and give you something new to be chased by. You are still just being chased though. So while there’s enemy design variety, it all boils down to the same routine of hiding/running/solving a puzzle.

On the upside, The Conjuring House definitely looks the part. The sprawling household is as gorgeous as it is haunting. The lighting, in particular, is excellent at showcasing the classic architecture of the building. The glow of candles, the flash of lighting and the gloomy glow of moonlight drive home the feeling of unpleasant solitude in a world of horrors. While the story and scares fade out of importance towards the end, the places within the house only get more interesting.

The design of the antagonistic demon (and the lesser monsters) is impressive, disgusting to view without relying on anything gory. That’s true of the whole game, to be honest. This is a largely bloodless tale of horror and is absolutely better for it. Yes, The Conjuring House may dry up on fresh scares in the latter part of the game, but Rym Games should be applauded for showing how to craft terror, tension, and dread without resorting to graphic viscera.

Rym Games has created a solid horror title for its debut. It’s perhaps a bit too safe and lacking in innovation towards the end, but one thing is for sure, it never gets boring being hounded by an angry demonic entity.

Review Code provided by the publisher

The Conjuring House is out now on Steam.

Books

‘In Search of Darkness’ Book Review: A Must-Have for ’80s Horror Fans

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In 2019, the documentary of 80s horror In Search of Darkness became an instant hit with horror fans. Now, a beautiful coffee table style companion book is available and is a must-own for all fans of one of horror’s greatest eras. The book is a walk down the horror aisle of the best mom and pop video store in the heyday of VHS, featuring full color photos, poster art, insightful essays and more. More than just a nostalgic throwback, In Search of Darkness is the kind of book I wish I’d had back in my years as a burgeoning horror fan but is also satisfying for the film fanatic I have become in the years since.

The format is beautifully and simply laid out, with at least a dozen (usually more) movies from each year of the decade presented in order of release accompanied by informative and insightful essays by the authors Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley. Both authors have been mainstays of film journalism, specializing in horror, for many years. Wixson began her career in 2007 with Dread Central and has spent the past ten years as the Managing Editor of Daily Dead, from which she recently retired to focus on books and other projects. She has devoted the past several years to interviewing and writing books about the Make-up and Special Effects wizards that have brought so much to film over the years, specifically the horror genre.

Bromley is a film journalist and critic whose work can be found all over the place including right here on Bloody Disgusting. He recently provided the commentary for the Vinegar Syndrome release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and is known as something of a Tobe Hooper expert. He is also the founder and editor of F this Movie!, an eclectic film website, and host of its accompanying podcast. So, to be clear, the authors know their stuff.

Wixson and Bromley divide writing duties roughly in half and though each has a distinctive voice, their writing styles dovetail beautifully into a cohesive whole. Each author plays to their strengths. Being familiar with both their work I didn’t even have to look at the bylines to know that Heather covered Christine and Terror in the Aisles and Patrick took on The Funhouse and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. Wixson’s passion for make-up effects is clear and comes through in many of her contributions. In general, Wixson takes on the “big” titles, the movies that defined the decade the most, and Bromley covers what the more cynical among us might call schlock, but he would likely call pure cinematic bliss. There are exceptions and surprises, of course, as there should be (Patrick covers The Shining for example). Each essay dives into the history behind the film, the major players involved, the reception, and legacy with often surprising aspects drawn from interviews with the filmmakers from various sources and insights from the authors.

For all their in-depth explorations of each film, in general the authors keep their critics’ hats safely stowed, keeping in mind that every entry on the book has its fans. In fact, they may well have sold me on finally hitting play on some of the schlockier offerings of the decade like Evilspeak, Nightbeast, and Blood Diner. Hell, I may even give The Beast Within a spin for shits and giggles. The point is that this book is a celebration through and through. The authors are honest about the critical receptions of the films, which were often unkind, and sometimes let their own opinions shine through, but recognize how beloved even the schlockiest films can become given time and availability. And that is an ongoing theme of In Search of Darkness. What may have been dismissed in its day often becomes revered as the years pass. Variations on the phrase “the years have been kind to…” referring to various maligned projects like The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Blob and many, many others, can be found throughout the book for good reason.

Each chapter of the book also includes a rundown of the top horror movies at the box office for the year as well as the top movies of all genres for context. The final page for each year highlights some of the major news and pop culture events including the top songs, albums, and television shows. There is a large central section that pays tribute to the talent involved with the greatest horror films of the 80s including directors, actors, effects artists, and more. This section includes brief biographies of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Tom Savini, Barbara Crampton, Robert Englund, and many others presented in a dynamic and engaging fashion.

One of the beauties of the book is that it covers so much ground. Sure, you’ll find Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and the Halloween sequels in it, but you’ll also find deeper cuts like The Changeling, The Being, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. I was happy to find the same love given to Frank Henenlotter and Larry Cohen as to George A. Romero and David Cronenberg. In other words, In Search of Darkness is extraordinarily eclectic, highlighting the diversity that truly defined what is often viewed as a homogenous decade. The authors make the case that the 80s was horror’s greatest decade, and with what they lay out throughout this book, it’s tough to argue against that. I even came across a film or two I hadn’t even heard of before, which has become increasingly rare as the years go by.

At just shy of $85, the cover price may give some horror hounds pause, but believe me, it’s worth every penny. This is a beautiful volume that every fan of 80s horror will want on their shelf or prominently displayed on their coffee table. Filled with favorite titles, hundreds of full color photos, insightful and informative writing, this is simply a must own.

You can order your copy now.

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