The Conjuring is inspired by the true-life story of the Perron family, who claimed they "lived among the dead" in the 1970s as spirits both friendly and sinister inhabited their Rhode Island farmhouse. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the world's most renowned paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting. Their purportedly real-life reports inspired The Amityville Horror story and the associated film franchise.
Plot[]
In 1968, the demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated the Annabelle case. Friends Debbie and Camilla reported a possessed doll. They permitted a spirit, claiming to be a seven-year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins, to inhabit the doll. However, the hauntings escalated in intensity. The Warrens clarified that the doll itself was not possessed but served merely as a conduit for a demonic spirit seeking to possess one of the individuals.
In 1971, Roger and Carolyn Perron moved into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, with their five daughters: Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April. Their dog, Sadie, would not enter the house. The family found a sealed cellar and experienced paranormal events within the first nights. All the clocks in the house stopped at 3:07 a.m. Each morning, Carolyn woke up with fresh bruises, and they discovered Sadie dead in the yard. Both Carolyn and Christine encountered a malevolent spirit.
Carolyn reaches out to the Warrens for an initial investigation. During this, Lorraine, a clairvoyant, perceives a dark presence attached to the family, indicating that leaving the house won't liberate them. To collect evidence, they install cameras and bells throughout the residence with assistance from their aide, Drew Thomas, and Officer Brad Hamilton. Their research uncovers that the property was once owned by Bathsheba Sherman, an alleged witch and Satanist (and a relative of Mary Towne Eastey). Sherman is said to have sacrificed her week-old baby to the devil and committed suicide in 1863 at 3:07 AM, after placing a curse on anyone who would claim her land. Subsequent to her death, the land has been plagued with a history of numerous murders and suicides.
Bathsheba has taken full control over Carolyn. In the basement, Lorraine encounters the apparition of a woman whom Bathsheba had previously possessed, compelling her to murder her own child. This revelation leads her to understand that Carolyn is being driven towards the same fate. The Warrens determine that they have gathered enough evidence to seek permission from the Catholic Church for an exorcism. However, Father Gordon informs them that, as the Perron family are not church members, any authorization must come directly from the Vatican.
Judy, the Warrens' daughter, is assaulted by Bathsheba using Annabelle, serving as a grim warning to her parents. The Perron family seeks shelter in a motel; however, a possessed Carolyn abducts Christine and April, intending to murder them at the house. As time runs short, Ed, Lorraine, and Brad restrain Carolyn to a chair for Ed to conduct the exorcism. Carolyn breaks free and tries to kill April, but Lorraine manages to reach out to her by evoking a cherished family memory, enabling Ed to finish the exorcism and banish Bathsheba to Hell.
Returning home, Ed adds the haunted music box from the Perron home to their room of cursed artifacts that they have collected from past cases.
Cast[]
- Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren
- Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren
- Ron Livingston as Roger Perron
- Lili Taylor as Carolyn Perron
- Mackenzie Foy as Cindy
- Joey King as Christine
- Shanley Caswell as Andrea
- Haley McFarland as Nancy
- Kyla Deaver as April
- Sterling Jerins as Judy Warren
- Lorraine Warren as woman in audience (uncredited)
Production[]
- In attendance at the New York Comic Con panel were people connected to the actual events the film is based on: a girl who grew up next door to the haunted house in question, and a woman who claimed to be the liaison between the Warrens and the imperiled family, the Perrons.
- After that, Wan and cast members in attendance – Wilson, Taylor and Livingston – shared anecdotes, the most memorable being Wilson’s account of he and Farmiga’s trip to the Warrens’ home (Ed has passed away, Lorraine is still alive), and the discovery of their haunted objects room – which is literally a room behind their house where supposedly haunted or possessed objects are stored.
- DeRosa-Grund allied with producer Peter Safran. Sibling writers Chad and Carey W. Hayes were brought on board to refine the script. 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'. The brothers interviewed Lorraine Warren many times to clarify details.
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