General News

Scary New Photos From THE CONJURING Are Here

By Michelle McCue | June 23, 2013

In his review from the Los Angeles Film Festival screening on Friday (June 21), Variety critic Justin Chang called it, “the sort of relentless, expertly tricked-out scarefest that leaves one feeling happily drained.” Judging by the reactions on Twitter, it was probably a restless sleep for many after the LA Film Fest showing of THE CONJURING.

Discover why truth is stranger than fiction in these frightening images from Director James Wan’s latest movie – due in the theaters next month.

The film reveals the real horrors lurking within a secluded centuries-old farmhouse in the seemingly peaceful countryside of Harrisville, Rhode Island, bought in 1970 by Carolyn and Roger Perron. However, the couple and their five daughters soon find themselves directly in the path of extreme, yet indefinable, danger. When Ed and Lorraine meet the family and the unnatural enemy waging war against them, they know they are in for the battle of their career…and lives.

(L-r) World renowned paranormal investigators, ED WARREN and LORRAINE WARREN (circa 1970s).

James Wan (twitter: @creepypuppet), who had known of the couple’s work prior to taking the directing reins of THE CONJURING says, “I’ve always been a big fan of the Warrens. I really admire them. They pioneered the modern-day style of ghost hunting with technical equipment, capturing evidence on film and audiotape. Since they’ve inspired so many stories, books and films, it was cool to actually make a movie where who they are is as much the focus as the family’s home they are investigating.”

Lorraine Warren, now in her eighties, still recalls all too well the physical environment of the real house where a sinister multitude had begun an infestation all those years ago. She attests, “When I walked inside, I immediately knew it was haunted. There’s a feeling that comes over you, almost like a veil, it draws your energy because the entity needs it in order to manifest; the only way to get that energy is from you. It was really heavy in that house and being on the set brought all that back. It was uncanny. I’m very fond of James. He wanted to get everything right, and I’m excited about the film.”

(Back row l-r) The real PERRON sisters CINDY, NANCY, APRIL, CHRISTINE, and ANDREA with (front row l-r) actors MACKENZIE FOY, HAYLEY McFARLAND, KYLA DEAVER, JOEY KING, and SHANLEY CASWELL on the set.

Roger Perron and his daughters had the opportunity to visit the set and agree that it stirred intense memories, starting with the fateful day they moved to the farm. Andrea, the eldest, remarks, “I was absolutely confident that James, the cast and the whole team authentically captured the essence of that house and what happened to us, which is no small feat. All that we hoped for has come to fruition. It is as though they had a key to our emotions, releasing what we experienced, recreating it on screen.” In fact, it was all too real for Carolyn, the wife and mother who lived through the terror more than three decades ago.

She would not attend filming for that very reason, admitting, “I didn’t go, just like I never, ever went back to the farm. I didn’t want the memories – or the thing that so threatened me in the house – to be able to touch me.” However, keeping her distance was perhaps not enough to protect her. One afternoon, while her family was at the location set that mirrored the feel of their former residence, an eerie and inexplicable wind whipped up to encircle them, though the trees remained perfectly still.

As technicians steadied the gear there in North Carolina, miles away in Atlanta, Carolyn experienced a presence which she hadn’t felt in 30 years—suddenly tripping and suffering injuries that put her in the hospital. Shortly thereafter, the cast and crew were evacuated from their hotel because a fire broke out.

Almost no one believes these are random coincidences.

LORRAINE WARREN on the set

LORRAINE WARREN and VERA FARMIGA on the set.

Why make a horror film like THE CONJURING? Wan says, “What I love about what I do is making someone scream, either from a thrill, or out of fear…especially when that lingering effect follows them from the theatre. And since this is a real-life story, I think knowing that evil spirits actually exist is as scary as it gets.”

From New Line Cinema comes a feature film drawn from the case files of married demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. THE CONJURING stars Academy Award® nominee Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air,” TV’s “Bates Motel”) and Patrick Wilson (“Insidious,”) as the Warrens, and Ron Livingston (“The Odd Life of Timothy Green”) and Lili Taylor (TV’s “Hemlock Grove”) as Roger and Carolyn Perron, residents of the house.

THE CONJURING will unleash on July 19.

http://theconjuring.warnerbros.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/TheConjuringMovie

https://twitter.com/TheConjuring

It has been rated R for sequences of disturbing violence and terror.