Film of the Week: The Conjuring 2

The Einfield Haunting is known for being the most documented paranormal cases in history. Several claims of objects moving by themselves and people levitating are just some of the reports that have been documented during this case. The most chilling piece of evidence is of a video recording of the two girls being interviewed and the ghost seemingly speaking through her. This story is the focus of the sequel to the Conjuring franchise.

When a film’s story is based on a true story – or real documented reports – you have to expect that it would add a bit of artistic license to flesh it out some more, and these added features usually show what didn’t happen or bent the truth slightly to make it a bit more thrilling.

The Einfield Poltergeist story is so well-documented that it does blur the line between a hoax and fact. Numerous reports from various people, including Police Officers, members of the public, and photographic and video evidence. It is hard to dismiss that it happened, but was it actually a real haunting? I’m not going to try and discover the truth in this article. My main focus is how well the film portrayed the story, and I did like how it implemented the possible hoax aspect.

Before I started to watch the film, I knew that it would try and play it off as a real event. It’s a horror movie, and so the ghosts would be real, and they showed just that as the film went on. Objects of various sizes being flung across the room, people levitating, and possession all occurred and therefore is a true story in the eyes of the film. There was a moment, however, before the last act when it was to be believed as a hoax. Video recording showed the girl, Janet Hodgson, (played by Madison Wolfe) throwing furniture, plates, cups, and bending spoons on her own free will. This did make me wonder if they really are going for a twist of events, when it will soon be revealed to be a complete hoax and proceed to explain how it was all done. During that scene when they were discussing the integrity of the case, I was torn between wanting it to go down a different angle, and it actually is real.

But this scene and a number of previous moments throughout the film does address the hoax aspect. A number of people explaining away how everything could have been faked. This case gained a lot of media attention, across newspapers and TV, so you would get two sides of the argument looking at every angle. As the scene continued, I figured that they couldn’t explain how it was all a hoax, but no one knows if it truly was or not. All we have is the evidence in front of us, and whilst they can be explained away and dismissed, it is hard to deny that there could be some truth behind it.

At the beginning of the film when Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) were on a talk show discussing and defending that the cases they have tackled are real, Ed brought up a very good point that I felt unintentionally became the backbone of the entire movie.

He said, “it’s very easy to sit on the outside and pick apart their story, but it’s something very different to have been there and experienced it for yourself.” This line was immediately dismissed by the person trying to claim that their investigations are a hoax by saying that “I don’t have to go to the moon to know that it is not made out of green cheese.” Whatever side you sit on, or if you sit on the fence, there is something true about Ed’s statement. For all we know, the Einfield Poltergeist has always been a well-played hoax, but for those that were there and claimed to have experienced various paranormal activity, we weren’t there to say whether they are lying or not. We can deny everything they say, and believe it to be completely false, but there is always that possibility it could be true.

The film captures the everyday nature of the ordinary family before all the activity starts well, and when the action begins, it did scare me. It made me jump out of my seat a few times, even when I was prepared for it. I knew it was coming, but I didn’t know when. However, as I said before in this article, there are some moments when they filmmakers took advantage of artistic license and added a few things for added effect, and everything they added worked well, except for one, and that’s when the figure in the Zoetrope disappeared from the device and appeared in front of them demonically. That’s the only criticism I have about the film because it took some of the scare factor away and started to tangent off into truly fictional.

I knew of the story long before watching the film, but it was only after watching it did I start doing a bit of research into the story to see what’s what. My blanket opinion on ghosts and other paranormal activity is, I believe it when I see it, and I have seen a ghost. However, if you were to tell me that a certain house or other building is haunted, I won’t believe that it is until I’ve seen it for myself. This opinion developed on the basis that it’s hard to decipher what’s real and what isn’t, especially with today’s technology. Everything can be faked if you know how to. I do believe in ghosts, but if I were to walk into a claimed haunted house, I would essentially be a skeptic until proven otherwise. 

When I saw the ghost in my house, I made sure to look at it at every angle to see if I could debunk it, because that is what I do. My imagination is very active, and at times it can play tricks on me. Whenever there appears to be something out of the ordinary, I quickly start assessing the situation. For example, I could be listening to music and I hear a voice behind me, and when I turn around there's no one there. Could be a ghost, but it could also be something as simple as: My mum was sitting outside reading a book, and because I was listening to music, I wouldn't be able to hear her so well if she called through. This played on my mind a bit and I subconsciously created a voice behind me to grab my attention. Therefore I believe that it wasn't anything paranormal, but just a casual trick of the mind. When I saw the ghost in my home, I made sure to deduce as much as possible, and once I had eliminated all the options, I therefore concluded that it was in fact a ghost that I saw. The factors that I took into account were: It was a long, solid white light, moving as if someone was walking briskly from kitchen, through the living room and suddenly disappearing; the only way it could disappear behind the sofa is if it turned a ninety degree turn, which I saw it do; and there were no car lights outside. Sometimes, when a car go past, it creates shadows and sudden flickering of light before immediately disappearing as the car drives away - the light I saw wasn't coming from outside, it was compacted together as if it were a figure. I did take into account whether or not I was either imagining it from being in bed and therefore tired, but I knew for sure that I was wide awake. Therefore I concluded the only thing it could have been after eliminating the probably causes, and that it was indeed a ghost.

That has been the only occasion when I saw a ghost, but it hasn't exactly been the only experience of paranormal activity within the home - each occasion I have evaluated the event before accepting the only option.

I guess I could say the same about the Einfield story, but it is difficult to completely dismiss it entirely. There is a lot of evidence suggesting it’s authentic, and it would be harder to pull off such a believable story back then that captured the beliefs of many, many people, including two Police Officers who filed the report which started off the entire investigation. However, when the media got hold of it, does the line between fact and fiction start to grow thicker. Media loves to blow things out of proportion, or to state that something is definitive when instead it’s merely just suggested.

Despite my opinion on ghosts and other paranormal activity, I can’t really use that for this story. It’s both fact and fiction for me. However, I can’t deny the strength that quote Ed says at the beginning of the film.

What do you think? Is it real, or is it a clever hoax.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)