Arts & Entertainment

This Week at the Movies

'The Conjuring' is creepy, while 'R.I.P.D.' is misguided and 'Only God Forgives' is disappointing.

James Wan’s “The Conjuring” is the scariest movie I’ve seen since – come to think of it – the director’s own “Insidious.”

Both pictures follow the trials and tribulations of families who are being haunted by malevolent spirits, but Wan’s latest purports to be a true story.

Whether you buy that line or not will likely not prevent “The Conjuring” from giving you a serious case of the goose bumps.

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In the film, Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) have relocated with their five daughters to a secluded farmhouse – always a bad sign – in rural Rhode Island in the early 1970s.

Some really creepy goings-on ensue, including strange noises in the night, unexplained bruises and shadowy figures lurking behind doors.

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The Perrons call upon Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), the paranormal investigators best known for their work on the Amityville Horror case, for assistance.

It turns out that the Perron’s home was previously occupied by a mother and her young boy, who went missing, and – before that – by a professed witch who sacrificed her newborn to Satan before hanging herself from a tree on the house’s front lawn.

Narratively, “The Conjuring” breaks no new ground – an exorcism is performed, ghoulish spirits make an appearance and there’s even a creepy doll that figures into the story.

But the film handles its material well and the result is one of the more frightening mainstream horror movies of recent years.

And despite its R rating, the film has virtually no gore. But I wouldn’t recommend bringing the kids along to this one, unless your plan is to traumatize them.

Jeff Bridges is an asset to any movie, but even the Hollywood legend could not save “R.I.P.D,” a misconceived supernatural action-comedy hybrid that wants to be “Ghostbusters” or “Men in Black,” but is more along the lines of “Howard the Duck” or “The Frighteners.”

To be fair, the film is not nearly as bad as you might think or may have heard, but it’s still a mess.

In the picture, Ryan Reynolds plays a cop who is betrayed by his partner (Kevin Bacon), dies and ends up in some sort of limbo where he is recruited to the titular division of undead officers who track down supernatural villains.

Bridges plays his partner, a cowboy who has spent some 100 years with the R.I.P.D. and is not keen on teaming up.

I won’t waste your time with an extended plot synopsis. Suffice it to say that the pair must stop – that’s right, folks – the end of the world and you may not be surprised to hear that Bacon’s sleazy cop plays a role in it.

The special effects in “R.I.P.D.” are decent enough, but the story is thin and the chemistry between Reynolds and Bridges is even thinner. There are certainly worse movies this summer, but few that are more lacking in inspiration.

“Only God Forgives” could be my biggest disappointment for the year so far.

The picture reunites director Nicolas Winding Refn, star Ryan Gosling and composer Cliff Martinez, all three of whom collaborated on “Drive,” which was my second favorite movie of 2011.

Refn’s newest picture is often great to look at and the score is once again entrancing, but it’s lacking in numerous other departments.

In the film, Gosling – who is the picture’s star but has, at most, 15 lines of dialogue – and his brother (Tom Burke) run a boxing ring in Thailand, but it appears to be a front for their family’s drug smuggling operation.

At the film’s beginning, Burke’s sleazy brother rapes and murders an underage prostitute. A cop named Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) allows the girl’s father to kill Burke, prompting a visit to the country by Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas), the foul-mouthed dragon lady matriarch of Gosling’s family.

Crystal wants Julian (Gosling) to avenge his brother’s death, but he comes to believe that his sibling got what he deserved. So, Crystal starts her own chain of revenge, prompting Chang, whose sense of justice borders on the vicious, to retaliate.

The bodies pile up in one scene after the next of outrageously grotesque violence. One man’s chest is slashed open with a sword, revealing his rib cage, while another has gigantic pins gouged into his hands, legs, eyes and ears.

“Drive” was pretty brutal as well, but that film had a lot more going on under the surface and its dreamy visual style, marvelous performances and subtle love story cushioned its brief outbursts of violence.

“Only God Forgives” looks good, but – aside from Scott Thomas’s uncharacteristically showy turn – its performances are too muted and story too lacking.

And while “Drive” was thematically understated, it gave you a lot to chew on, whereas Refn’s latest appears to be aiming for something, but it’s difficult to discern what it is.

“Only God Forgives” is a misfire, but not an outright bad film. Refn has too much talent to completely dismiss his latest picture. But it’s a disappointment nonetheless.

“The Conjuring” and “R.I.P.D” are playing at UA Midway Stadium 9, while “Only God Forgives” is screening at Manhattan’sAngelika Film Center


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