A Brief History
Based on the British equivalent of the real life Amityville Horror referred to as the Enfield Poltergeist, the major motion picture The Conjuring 2 is set to open on Friday, June 10, 2016.
Digging Deeper
Having seen an advance screening (“screaming?”) of the film, we can assure ghost movie buffs of a solid treat with high production value.
The casting, acting, and special effects are up to high industry standards, and the serious attempt to portray much of what happened during the real events in a run down section of Enfield, England from 1977 to 1979 give the movie a patina of authenticity.
Not allowed to spill the beans earlier, now we can reveal some of the plot and compare the incidents in the film to the real life (as reported) incidents. A single mom with four kids is scraping by in Enfield in a tawdry row house when paranormal events start, tormenting the family and perplexing investigators, including the police, the Catholic Church, and the famous ghost busting couple, Ed and Lorainne Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, she of Bates Motel fame). Not wanting to spoil the ending, we will avoid telling you how it turns out but will compare some of the movie events with the real life events
- Movie Event: Janet rises to the ceiling.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: No, she just levitated a couple feet.
- Movie Event: The Warrens, famed pair from Amityville investigated.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes, although the movie gives them a larger role.
- Movie Event: Janet (age 11) is possessed by an old, dead man.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes.
- Movie Event: That man died in a chair still in the living room years before.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes.
- Movie Event: Peggy (Mom) ran and got neighbors to come over and help, neighbors witnessed phenomena.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes, neighbors heard odd knocking sounds.
- Movie Event: Dozens of crosses mounted on the walls of a room turn upside down supernaturally.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: No, there is no record of this event.
- Movie Event: Playing on a homemade Ouija board triggers onset of paranormal haunting.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes.
- Movie Event: Police summoned to house witness furniture moving on its own, but do not help saying it was not police business.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes, with a signed affidavit saying a chair rose and moved 4 feet.
- Movie Event: The Hodgson kids are tormented at school over this incident.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes.
- Movie Event: Janet is caught faking an incident, but has a good excuse.
- Real Life Event, Yes/No: Yes, but her excuse was not so good.
As mentioned above, we will avoid discussion of the resolution or non-resolution of the story in the film and in real life and how those events came about. Of course, the movie has many more incidents, some of which are gasp inducing.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Could this series of incidents be true? You be the judge! Other people who moved into the real home got out quickly when strange things happened!
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Anson, Jay. The Amityville Horror. Pocket Star, 2005.
Brittle, Gerald. The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren (The Paranormal Investigators Featured in the Film “The Conjuring”). Graymalkin Media, 2013.
Leonetti, John R., dir. Annabelle (DVD). WarnerBrothers, 2015. DVD.
Playfair, Guy Lyon. This House is Haunted. White Crow Books, 2011.
Wan, James, dir. The Conjuring (DVD). WarnerBrothers, 2013. DVD.
You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube.