The Conjuring

This one starts simply enough. The Perron family move into a farmhouse in Rhode Island in 1971, and the house does not want them there. Things escalate the way they always do in these stories, a little wrong turning into a lot wrong, until Ed and Lorraine Warren get called in to work out what exactly they are dealing with.

The fear here is the slow, creeping sort. Nothing jumps out at you in the first five minutes. It builds a room at a time, a sound at a time, until ordinary corners of the house stop feeling safe. I would not call it gentle, but it earns its scares rather than shouting them at you.

Watch it on a night when the house is properly quiet and you are not planning to check on any creaking floorboards afterwards. It is also worth knowing this is the film that started the whole Conjuring Universe, so if you end up wanting more of the Warrens, there is plenty waiting.

Lights off, doors checked, coffee within reach. You will want all three.