Halloween is the best time of year. It’s the one day that kids and adults alike can dress up to pretend to be something else. Also, Halloween is the time of year that you can find a scary movie on almost any channel during the month of October. Sure they edited for content, but that does not stop people from getting their fill. People love a good superficial scare. This is why I find it fitting to bring to you, my valued readers, 31 Days of Halloween. Each day, up until the final day of October (which happens to be Halloween), I will present one of my favorite horror movies, just to get you in the mood. I am also going to watch each day’s movie, life permitting of course. So sit back, pull the covers up over your eyes, and enjoy the countdown to All Hallows’ Eve.

31 Days Of Halloween – Day 1 – October 1st

The Conjuring (Directed by James Wan, 2013) In the tradition of Amityville Horror and Poltergeist, The Conjuring is a (loosely based) story about a family that moves into a house, and becomes tormented by something supernatural. It’s not often in this day and age that we are treated to a complete horror movie of this caliber. The acting is very good, the story is compelling, and the effects are not over the top. There are plenty of jump scares, some wonderful suspense, and believable characters. The Perron family move into a Rhode Island farm-house to start over, but soon fall victim to a malevolent force that has attached itself to the home. Paranormal specialists Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help the family overcome this evil. Along the way, a lot of bad things happen, including demonic possession. James Wan does a great job of squeezing all he can out of this genre (Saw, Insidious), and this is his best film to date. Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and Vera Farminga (Bates Motel) and great as the ghost-hunting Warrens, and Lily Taylor (Six Feet Under) plays a very convincing terrified mother to the Perron family. The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist has been announced for 2016. Let’s hope it can live up to its predecessor. For some good ghostly fun, The Conjuring is just what you require.

T.