
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver, Shannon Kook, John Brotherton, Sterling Jerins, Marion Guyot, Morganna Bridgers, Amy Tipton
OUR RATING: ★★★★☆
Story:
Supernatural horror directed by James Wan. Inspired by true events, The Conjuring (2013) centers on Carolyn and Roger Perron (Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston), who decide to start new lives for themselves and raise their family of four girls in the Rhode Island countryside in an old farmhouse they bought at an auction. Soon after moving in they realize that their house contains an evil demon presence controlling the house that is not very happy having a loving family moving in. Famous psychic investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), are then called in to help find the haunting, but what unfolds before them is beyond anything they’ve experienced before.
Our Favorite Quotes:
'The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.' - Ed Warren (The Conjuring) Click To Tweet
Best Quotes
Debbie: [1968, The Annabelle Case] It scares us just thinking about it. When you hear it, you’re going to think we’re insane.
Ed Warren: Try us. Please, from the start.
Debbie: [referring to the doll, Annabelle] It started out small, like a hand, or a leg was in a different position. Then its head was looking up instead of down. And then one day, it was in a completely different room. It was moving around by itself.
Debbie: [referring to the medium] We learned from her that a seven year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins had died in this apartment. She was lonely and took a liking to my doll. All she wanted was to be friends.
Camilla: When we heard this, we felt really sorry for her. I mean we’re nurses, we help people. So we gave her permission to move into the doll.
Ed Warren: Wait. You did what?
Camilla: She wanted to live with us by inhabiting the doll. We said yes.
Debbie: But then things got worse.
Debbie: We were beyond terrified. We don’t know what’s going on, or what to do. Can you help us?
Ed Warren: Yes, we can. Now, firstly, there’s no such thing as Annabelle. And there never was.
Lorraine Warren: Ghosts don’t possess such a power. I think what we have here is something extremely manipulative. It’s something inhuman.
Ed Warren: It was a big mistake acknowledging this doll. And through that, the inhuman spirit tricked you. You gave it permission to infest your lives.
Camilla: What’s an inhuman spirit?
Ed Warren: It’s something that’s never walked the earth in human form. It’s something demonic.
Debbie: So the doll was never possessed?
Lorraine Warren: No, no. It was used as a conduit. It was moved around to give the impression of possession. Demonic spirits don’t possess things, they possess people. It wanted to get inside of you.
Student: So, what are you guys? I mean, what do people call you?
Ed Warren: Well, we’ve been called Demonologists. That’s one name for us. Ghost hunters, paranormal researchers.
Lorraine Warren: Kooks.
Ed Warren: Wackos.
Lorraine Warren: But we preferred to be known simply as Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Roger Perron: [1971, as the Perron family arrive at their new home] Wow. Hear that?
Carolyn Perron: I don’t hear anything.
Roger Perron: Exactly.
Andrea: Oh, God. We’re in the middle of nowhere.
Carolyn Perron: [referring to moving into the new house] Thanks for making this work. I know it was a lot to bite off. It’s going to be great, isn’t it?
Roger Perron: I think it’s great already.
Carolyn Perron: Yeah. You still too fried to Christen the new house?
Roger Perron: [picks her up playfully] Who said I’m fried? Ain’t nobody here is fried.
Andrea: And there was this really funky smell in my bedroom last night. Reeked like something died.
Carolyn Perron: Is it still there?
Andrea: No.
Carolyn Perron: Problem solved!
Carolyn Perron: This clock stopped at 3:07, and so did the one in the hallway.
Roger Perron: That’s weird.
Reporter: Wow. This is crazy. So all these are taken from cases you’ve investigated?
Ed Warren: That’s right. Everything you see in here is either haunted, cursed, or has been used in some kind of ritualistic practice. Nothing’s a toy. Not even the toy monkey. Don’t touch it.
Reporter: Well, isn’t it scary, or doesn’t it worry you to have all these items right in your home?
Ed Warren: Oh, that’s why we have a priest that comes by once a month to bless the room. Well, the way I see it is, it’s safer for these things to be in here than out there. It’s kind of like keeping guns off the street.
Reporter: Well, why not just throw them in an incinerator? Destroy them.
Ed Warren: Well, that would only destroy the vessel. Sometimes it’s better to keep the genie in the bottle.
Reporter: Say, is the Annabelle doll here?
Ed Warren: Right this way. Yeah.
Reporter: [as he sees Annabelle in the glass case] You said she’s a conduit?
Ed Warren: That’s right.
Reporter: What does that mean?
Ed Warren: A very powerful demonic has latched itself onto her.
'When the music stops, you see him in the mirror, standing behind you.' - April (The Conjuring) Click To Tweet
Reporter: So, when you guys investigate these haunting, how do you stop them from latching onto you?
Ed Warren: We have to take great precaution.
Reporter: But what about your wife?
Ed Warren: What about her?
Reporter: Well, Father Gordon told me that…
Ed Warren: That was different. What happened to my wife happened during an exorcism.
Reporter: What’s the difference?
Christine: [after the clocks stop at 3:07, as they’re sleeping in their room] Not funny, Nancy.
Nancy: What?
Christine: Stop grabbing my foot!
Nancy: Shut up! I didn’t do anything!
Christine: Yeah, right. Ew, and stop farting! It really stinks.
Nancy: Don’t blame that on me. It’s you.
April: [to Carolyn referring to the music box and Rory] When the music stops, you see him in the mirror, standing behind you.
Christine: [after she’s woken in the middle of the night] Do you see it?
Nancy: See what?
Christine: There’s someone behind the door.
Nancy: What?
Christine: There’s someone standing over there.
Nancy: I don’t see anyone.
Christine: It’s looking right at us.
'Fear is defined as a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or eminence of danger.' - Ed Warren (The Conjuring) Click To Tweet
Nancy: [after she checks behind the door] Look. There’s no one. There’s no one here. See? Ugh, it’s that smell again!
Christine: Oh, my God. It’s standing right behind you.
[Nancy feels something behind her, as she slowly turns, the bedroom door slams shut]
Roger Perron: Honey, there’s nothing in here. There’s nobody in here.
Christine: Dad, there was someone else in here! I was just sleeping, and then I felt someone grab my feet. So I thought it was Nancy.
Roger Perron: Well, honey, I’m pretty sure it was just a bad dream.
Christine: No! It talked to me! It said that it wants my family dead.
Lorraine Warren: I know you’re worried it’s going to happened again.
Ed Warren: Yeah, I am. I really am. Maybe it’s just time we take a break, write that book.
Lorraine Warren: Do you remember what you said to me on our wedding night?
Ed Warren: “Can we do it again?”
Lorraine Warren: After that.
Lorraine Warren: You said that God brought us together for a reason. Right? I’m pretty sure it’s not to write a book.
David: So this place isn’t haunted?
Lorraine Warren: No, it rarely is. Yeah, there’s usually always some kind of rational explanation.
Rory: [to Carolyn, after she gets locked in the cellar] Hey, want to play hide and clap?
[suddenly from the darkness, behind Carolyn, a pair of hands appear and clap]
'The three stages of demonic activity. Infestation, oppression, and possession.' - Ed Warren (The Conjuring) Click To Tweet
Ed Warren: Fear is defined as a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or eminence of danger. Whether it’s a ghost, a spirit, or an entity, they all feed on it.
Female Student: Did you personally perform the exorcism?
Ed Warren: No, I’m not authorized. But I’ve assisted on many. See an exorcism can be very dangerous, not only for the victim, but for anyone in the room.
Ed Warren: The three stages of demonic activity. Infestation, oppression, and possession. Now infestation, that’s the whispering, the footsteps, the feeling of another presence, which ultimately grows into oppression, the second stage. Now this is where the victim, and it’s usually the one who’s the most psychologically vulnerable, is targeted specifically by an external force. Breaks the victim down, crushes their will. And once in a weakened state, leads them into the third and final stage, possession.
Carolyn Perron: [after asking Ed and Lorraine to come and look at their house] I have five daughters who are scared to death. I’m so afraid this thing wants to hurt us. I mean, you have a daughter. Wouldn’t you do anything you could to protect her? Please. Please can you come and take a look?
Lorraine Warren: Of course we will. Of course we will.
Carolyn Perron: It’s gotten a lot worse the past few nights. There’s this awful smell, like rotting meat. It moves around the house. What? What is it?
Ed Warren: Well, rancid smells could indicate some type of demonic activity.
Carolyn Perron: Oh, my God.
Trailer: