Old Tricks In A New Book

James Wan is a horror icon, some may even say a staple, in Hollywood nowadays. He first burst onto the scene with the release of Saw back in 2003, and some would say his big moment where he really came into his own was the release of the Insidious franchise back in 2010. One thing that most people seemed to agree on though, when it came to Insidious (2010), was that the film relied on practical effects more than pure CGI and sudden loud bursts of music for its scares, and this made the film all the better. James Wan seemed to have found his gimmick. While Saw (2003) and its sequels did rely on the gore and blood factor for its scares and not CGI demons and ghosts, Wan found a franchise and fanbase he could call his own, now relying on practical ghost scares rather than the shock and awe of someone sawing off their own leg or falling into a pit of needles or having their head ripped open via a 'reverse-bear-trap' (Although if any of us saw Jigsaw move towards us on that tricycle, I'm sure we'd be pretty creeped out as we looked over our shoulder and tried to get out of there ASAP).

But as the years have gone on, Wan's style has seemed to change. Nothing wrong with this, all styles change as time goes on. But is Wan relying on old school tricks we thought he was above?

When Does CGI Become Too Much CGI?

Everyone agreed that this was a pleasant and much needed change in the horror world. People were getting tired of the blood and gore and the cheap jump scares. Everything seemed to be going great. But then things started to take a turn, but while they weren't for the worse they were...different. Wan's films started to seem to be divided into two parts: The Beginning with the scares and tactics we all loved in Wan's films and the big battle at the end with the Ghost/Demon. The former was, personally in my opinion, the better part of the movies. The latter however was full of CGI scares and spooks and demon roars that seemed to carry the same weight and creep factor as the movie that came before it. Jump scares themselves are fine, but only when done sparingly and in moderation and handled well and not used as the only means of scares for your film.

Take a look at the ending scene from The Conjuring 2 (2016). Never mind the fact this film is based on the true cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren (because obviously we all know there wasn't a real demon nun there in the corner growling menacingly and sending people flying back against a wall of upside down crosses), but aside from the ominous presence of The Crooked Man character, there was nothing original in the ending to the film. Loud orchestration, people screaming in panic and fear, lightning storms echoing and lighting up the rooms, the evil demon standing in the corner and screaming BOO!! at anyone who came near it, it was something we had all seen before in not just Wan's films, but others as well.

Now I'm not saying it didn't look cool or keep me on the edge of my seat or keep me entertained watching it on the big screen, but at this point I had come to expect more from Wan. I was beginning to wonder if he had run out of tricks. That being said, the creep factor in his films had started to become a little more predictable as the films went on as well. One could predict when a ghost might casually walk in the back or when a door in the background might slowly start to open or slam shut. But there are only so many things one can do with practical effects in a horror movie, and this didn't lessen the creep-factor of them or lessen my enjoyment of the film itself.

The Big Battle

But when the big battle came around, most people could predict who would get out alive and how it would end. A prayer would be said or an exorcism would be performed or the idea of love or family would overpower the evil entity. The entity would leave, the family would reconcile and appear happy as they went on with their lives, and the last shot of the movie would be one last scare or show that the evil was not really destroyed.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying CGI is a bad thing to have in a horror movie. In fact, it's a necessity sometimes. There are a lot of things that are done in film that just can't be achieved through practical effects alone. But lately it seems that Wan has started to rely too much on it.

However, this may not all be his fault. For example, The Conjuring2 was all him. He directed, produced, and co-wrote the film. But Annabelle: Creation (2017) he only produced. And his upcoming horror film The Nun (2018) he did not direct but he did produce and help write the story for. So the blame is not all his fault, but he certainly has a hand in how these films are made one way or another.

This could be because, as of late, Wan has started to get more into making action films. His first big-budget action movie was Furious 7 (2015) and his second comes out later this year, Aquaman (2018). Wan seems to have a thing for loud and powerful action scenes in some form or fashion, and perhaps he likes to try and fit them into his horror films. This isn't necessarily a 'bad' thing, and seeing more of your otherworldly antagonist instead of just a creepy shadow is always nice if it's handled properly. But the first half of his films seem to be pure horror whereas the second half seem to be horror with a little bit of action mixed in with the loud jump scares.

Changing The Genre For The Better

Wan's style seems to have evolved. As it should. All directors should take notes on what works and what doesn't work for their films. But it looks like Wan has decided to add more action and jumps to his horror movies rather than bump up the creep factor that helped make Insidious such a standout during its time. Is this a bad thing? Not exactly. His films still make pretty good money at the US Box Office. The last film Wan directed was The Conjuring 2 and it made $320 million on a $40 million budget. Not exactly anywhere near a flop. The Nun is expected to perform around the same way, and Aquaman is sure to make a decent splash (Sorry, I had to) when it arrives in theaters. Clearly Wan and the people he works with are doing something right. And to their credit, most horror films follow this pattern in one way or another. But it seemed like Wan had a slightly different method to his work. And in a way, he still does.

And these films he has are good, great even. Jump scares, as long as they're not relied on too heavily, can work well. Combined with good makeup and practical effects, jump scares and CGI can be nice and be great in a horror film. But most people would prefer more of the former rather than the latter.

Is this what we can expect from the rest of his horror work? Will he revert back to the same style he started out with, or will he follow this trend and continue to tweak it and make it his own? Only time will tell. As for me, I'll continue to buy tickets to his work in the horror genre as well as enjoy his expanding Conjuring Universe. After all, I'm sure we all know the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."