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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - July 19th

"THE CONJURING" released in 2013

Based on one of real-life paranormal investigator's Ed and Lorraine Warren's cases, The Conjuring tells the story of their assistance of the Perron family at their farmhouse in Rhode Island in 1971, who are experiencing increasingly disturbing events. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, who would continue on to investigate another famous haunting in Long Island (The Amityville Horror) 5-years later.

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Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor) move with their five children - Andrea (Shanley Caswell), Nancy (Hayley McFarland), Christine (Joey King), Cindy (Mackenzie Foy), and April (Kyla Deaver) - into a dilapidated farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Paranormal events occur within the first few nights: all of the clocks stop at exactly 3:07 AM and Sadie (the Perron family dog who refuses to enter the house) is found dead in the backyard. One night, Carolyn hears clapping in the hallway. When she goes to investigate, following the noises, she gets trapped in the basement by the spirit. At the same moment, Andrea and Cindy are attacked by a spirit on top of the wardrobe. Carolyn decides to contact noted demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wilson and Fermiga), who agree to take on the case. Ed and Lorraine soon discover that the house once belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba (a relative of Mary Towne Eastey), who sacrificed her week-old child to the devil and killed herself in 1863 after cursing all who would take her land, and find reports of numerous murders and suicides in houses that had since been built on the property. As the demonic attacks become more frequent and violent, Ed and Lorraine decide the only way they can help save the Perron family is by performing an unsanctioned exorcism, as the evil spirit of Bathsheba possesses Carolyn into killing her own children!

[introducing themselves at a lecture]
Ed Warren: We've been called ghost hunters. Paranormal researchers... Wackos.
[laughter from crowd]
Lorraine Warren: But we prefer to be known simply as Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Top:   Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) investigate the basement of the 

Perron House;   Above:   The Perron family believed they would have a fresh start in Rhode Island  

Development began over 20 years prior when Ed Warren played a tape of Lorraine's original interview with Carolyn Perron for producer Tony DeRosa-Grund (At the end of the tape, Warren said to DeRosa-Grund, "If we can't make this into a film I don't know what we can"). For nearly 14 years, DeRosa-Grund tried to get the movie made without any success, until he partnered with producer Peter Safran, and sibling writers Chad and Carey Hayes. Using DeRosa-Grund's treatment and the Ed Warren tape, the Hayes brothers changed the story's point of view from the Perron family to the Warrens', in 2009 The Conjuring became the subject of a six-studio bidding war. Although initially losing to Summit Entertainment, New Line Cinema eventually made a deal with DeRosa-Grund's Evergreen Media Group.

Rory: Want to play a game of hide and clap?

Top:   Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) encounters the evil spirits in her house;

Above:   Carolyn and Roger Perron (Ron Livingston) turn to Ed and Lorraine 

Warren for help

Pre-production began over a year later in early-2011, with reports surfacing in early June that James Wan was to direct. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson were cast to star in the film as the titular characters Ed and Lorraine Warren in January 2012 (Wilson having worked with Wan previously on the Insidious movies) and Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor were also confirmed for roles later the same month. The production initially scouted a number of farmhouses to shoot in the Cape Fear region of South Eastern North Carolina, until they found the house located on the Black River in Pender County. The production team also built a fifty-foot tall tree in at the ear of the property, the same tree that Bathsheba hung herself from.

Ed Warren: The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges on which we decide to follow.

Above:   Bathsheba (Joseph Bishara) attempts to possess Carolyn

This was the first film directed by James Wan that did not involve longtime partner Leigh Whannell in any way, with production beginning in late February 2012. Shot in chronological order, filming lasted for 38 days on locations in and around Wilmington, North Carolina and EUE/Screen Gems (also in North Caorlina). Diana Pasulka, professor of Religious Studies at UNC-Wilmington, was the chief religious consultant for the project, in addition to input from Lorraine Warren. When the real-life family that the film is based on visited the set location in North Carolina, they felt a cool wind whip throughout the set. They also noticed that the intense, sudden draft did not move or shake any of the surrounding trees.

Lorraine Warren: She ran out to that tree by the dock, climbed up, proclaimed her love to Satan, cursed anyone who tried to take her land, and hung herself. Time of death was pronounced at 3:07 in the morning.
Ed Warren: Well, that explains a few things.

Top:   Bathsheba attacks two of the Perron children!;

Above:   Lorraine starts to piece together the origin of the houses curse

Released in July, 2013 The Conjuring was a huge success! Despite the film containing no sex or nudity, little profanity, tame and mostly bloodless violence, and brief depictions of alcohol and no smoking, it received an R rating solely for its scare factor alone! When told by the MPAA that were no cuts or edits possible that would make it a PG-13 rating (and the filmmakers not wanting to alter the film's tone) accepted the R-rating without any appeals. Furthermore, when the movie was shown in the Philippines, some cinemas had to hire Catholic priests to bless the viewers before showing it. This was due to some viewers having reported a "negative presence" after watching the film.

[last lines]
Lorraine Warren: The Vatican approved the exorcism.
Ed Warren: [scoffs] Nice timing.
Lorraine Warren: And, if we can, then he'd like to meet with us tomorrow. There's a case in Long Island he'd like to discuss.
Ed Warren: Really?

Top:   Bathsheba in possession of Carolyn;

Above:   Ed performs an unsanctioned exorcism to save Carolyn

Reviews for The Conjuring were almost universal in their praise. Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter said: "With its minimal use of digital effects, its strong, sympathetic performances and ace design work, the pic harks back in themes and methods to The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror, not quite attaining the poignancy and depth of the former but far exceeding the latter in sheer cinematic beauty". Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a positive review, calling the film "a sensationally entertaining old-school freak-out and one of the smartest, most viscerally effective thrillers in recent memory" and Alonso Duralde of TheWrap also praised the effectiveness of the film, explaining that it "doesn't try to reinvent the tropes of horror movies, whether it's ghosts or demons or exorcisms, but Fred Astaire didn't invent tap-dancing, either."

Top:   On location in North Carolina;

Above:   Director James Wan (center) with stars Wilson and Farmiga

The box office success of The Conjuring (it's $41 million opening weekend gross ranks it along the Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) and Hannibal (2001) for highest R-rated horror film opening), would start an entire new franchise. The first film was the spin-off Annabelle (2014) which focused on the demonic doll featured at the beginning of the Conjuring. Premiering in 2016 was The Conjuring 2, with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprising the roles of Ed and Lorraine Warren and chronicles their investigation of the Enfield poltergeist in London. In addition, their are two further films in The Conjuring series either in development or pre-production - Annabelle 2 (expected to be released in mid-2017) and The Nun, another spin-off featuring Valak the Demon Nun character from The Conjuring 2. On a potential Conjuring 3, director James Wan stated, "There could be many more [Conjuring] movies because the Warrens have so many stories... Assuming we are lucky enough to have a third chapter, there are other filmmakers that I would love to sort of continue on the Conjuring world, if we are lucky enough."

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   84%