The Conjuring (2013)

James Wan is a master of horror because he knows exactly how to carefully and slowly form heart-jumping, inventive scares with haunting images. They often strike you when you least expect it, like the sudden appearance of a foot dangling from a ghastly pale body hanging from a tree, or a craggy, snarling witch perched on top of a dresser. The Conjuring is one of his best films, based on the true story of the Perron family, who move into a house where strange occurrences begin—waking up at 3:07AM every morning, bruises appearing on the mother Carolyn’s (Lili Taylor) body, and an unseen figure lurking in a pitch-black bedroom corner.

The way Wan reveals the ghosts—slow and steady, yet quick and lacerating—is truly terrifying. The Conjuring also turns the real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who also worked on the Amityville Horror case, into compelling protagonists with a romantic love story. It also gives them a connection to the film’s surprisingly moving themes of motherhood.