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Movie reminiscent of the 70s television horror films

posted 15 years ago by jeffyoung1
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What impresses me most about CONJURER is that it reminds me about the early 1970s made-for-television gothic suspense and fright films. These were inexpensively budgeted but surprisingly good quality movie-of-the week fright films that did not rely on gore but used suspense, lighting and shadows, and plain old good story lines. Also there was minimal violence but a lot of scares and jolts.

CONJURER proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that a good ghost story or supernatural film is not a dead genre.

There's one thing I didn't like and it was the technical sound level. I had to constantly adjust the sound volume up and down. Whenever there were music sound effects intended to make you jump, the sound volume would instantly rise to ear-splitting levels. I was watching this video at night where everything is so much quieter and sound travels farther and louder in the cooler, denser night air. I was constantly concerned about disturbing the neighbors.

[–] Doctor_Mabuse1 13 years ago

I know what you mean about the spooky Movie-of-the-Week films. At their best, they made best use of modest budgets to create mood and subtlety, with good scripts and actors and maybe one or two well-known cast members (here, John Schneider). In that era of television drama it was still possible and desirable to create an experience of quiet, unsettling eerieness. At an average running time of 75 minutes (without commercials), an effective little ghost story such as this could make its point and pass by without unnecessary padding.

A positive riposte to your comment on the sound level is that, like the TV films of yore, in which there still remained a residual relationship with radio drama, the emphasis in this film is on listening. After all the sledgehammers and chainsaws, it's a welcome unpleasance to revisit the chills of whispering shadows...

Doctor Mabuse, Evil Genius, King of Crime