The Conjuring was one of the biggest horror blockbusters in recent memory and it only makes sense that the producers would make sequel. As with most horror movies the producers often try to blend fiction with facts, in order to make the movie bit scarier. The first Conjuring movie according to Andrea Perron who lived in the house contained very little of the true story that actually occurred at the house. So how much of the Conjuring 2, is based on a true story?
What was the Warren’s Involvement in the Real Conjuring 2 case?
Although we haven’t seen the Conjuring 2 movie yet, we can already tell by the movie cast that the main characters are Ed and Lorraine Warren. According to many sources including the main investigators Mr. Playfair Ed and Lorraine Warren had no involvement in the Enfield Poltergeist case, and never performed a paranormal investigation on the case. During an interview on Darkness Radio, head paranormal investigator for the Enfield Poltergeist Case Guy Lyon Playfair stated:
Dave Schrader: Mr. Playfair, I’m sure you’re familiar with Ed and Lorraine Warren and their research and work. Have they ever worked along with the Society for Psychical Research?
Guy Lyon Playfair: No. I bumped into Ed Warren once or twice, and Lorraine… and I got the impression that Ed Warren was, well.. (laughs) fill in your own expletive. I wasn’t impressed at all. Lorraine is still living, so I’ll refrain from commenting on her, but she was very… quite pleasant when I met her.
They did turn up once, I think, at Enfield, and all I can remember is Ed Warren telling me that he could make a lot of money for me out of it. So I thought, “well thats all I need to know from you” and I got myself out of his way as soon as I could. I said was not impressed. He didn’t spend… I don’t think he went there more than once. And I did read
somewhere a transcript of a lengthy interview which he’s alleged to have with one of the girls – which they couldn’t remember giving him – and it was describing all sorts of marvelous wonders which I don’t think ever happened. I think he was a complete…um… well… (laughs)… fill in whatever word…
Dave: (laughs) I understand. So you don’t feel that – and especially in the interactions you had with him – you don’t feel that maybe they had the best intentions when it came to the investigations of these cases?
Guy: No, they just wanted to make money out of it.
Dave: Okay. Did – have you heard, or in your research, have you come across any proof that Ed or Lorraine Warren had anything to do with consulting or being a part of this investigation?
Guy: Certainly not. Nobody ever mentioned them. I mean, I don’t think anybody in the family had ever heard of him until he turned up. Uninvited. And uh..
Dave: Oh, so just came out…
Guy: …he said who he was and he didn’t come again and we just sort of forgot about him.
Dave: So he came out to the site uninvited, and just showed up to try and insert himself into the story, is what you maintain?
Guy: Thats what I remember, yes.
Dave: Okay, fascinating.
Guy: It was quite brief. He was just one.. we had so many people coming and going. I mean I remember one day he did turn up. I think Lorraine was there as well – I’d also met them in Brazil. They sort of pop up all over the place. And it was just no big deal at all. I mean, I had a brief conversation with Ed at Enfield, and as I say, he was telling me how much money he’d help me make, and I politely declined his help, and I strained that that’s not what we exist for in the SPR, and that was the last time I saw him.
How did the Conjuring 2 “true” story begin?
The real story that the Conjuring 2 is based on is the Enfield Poltergeist Case whose paranormal events took place in the late 1970’s. According to Peggy Hodgson (the mother), the haunting of her Enfield home began on the evening of August 30, 1977. It was on that night that her daughter Janet told her that her brothers’ beds were wobbling. The next evening, Mrs. Hodgson heard a loud noise from upstairs. She entered her children’s bedroom and saw a chest of drawers moving. She tried to stop the heavy oak chest as it moved toward the door, concluding that an invisible force was trying to trap them in the room.
“It started in a back bedroom, the chest of drawers moved, and you could hear shuffling,” recalled the real Janet Hodgson many years later in a Channel 4 Enfield Poltergeist documentary. Thinking that it was Janet and her siblings making the noise, she said that her mother told them to go to sleep. “We told her what was going on, and she came to see it for herself. She saw the chest of drawers moving. When she tried to push it back, she couldn’t.”-Daily Mail Online
Did crosses actually turn upside down during the Enfield Poltergeist Case?
No there were never any claims of crosses being turned upside down. Why the Conjuring 2 which supposedly is based on a true story put this in the trailer and in the movie is beyond us.
Did Janet Hodgson really get thrown in the air by poltergeist?
In The Conjuring 2 movie based on a true story, Janet daughter of Peggy (Madison Wolfe) finds herself pinned against the ceiling by the demonic poltergeist. According to Janet and Peggy this is a complete exaggeration of what allegedly happened in real life during the Enfield haunting. There are suspect photographs of the real Janet Hodgson “levitating” only show her a short distance above her bed (see below). This, coupled with the way her body is positioned in the air, has led many paranormal researchers to believe that she simply jumped from her bed. The questionable photos were taken by Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris after the family contacted the press (it should be noted that the Daily Mirror is a UK tabloid newspaper whose stories have often proven less than credible). “The levitation was scary,” recalled Janet, “because you didn’t know where you were going to land.”
Supporting the family’s claims were two witnesses, a baker and a lollipop lady, who were passing by outside and claimed to have seen Janet hovering above her bed as they looked through an upstairs window. “The lady saw me spinning around and banging against the window,” recalls Janet. “I thought I might actually break the window and go through it.” -Daily Mail Online
So is the Conjuring 2 movie based on a true story?
Well it looks like the only part of the Conjuring 2 movie that might be true, might be the fact that the producers have the haunting occurring in Enfield, UK. Being in the paranormal field for over 10 years and putting numerous hours investigating, reviewing, and trying to document anomalous phenomena for clients, I find it absolutely disgusting that the Warren’s will forever be attached to this case even though they absolutely had nothing to do with. Even more disgusting is the fact that this movie claims to be based on true story, when it it clearly isn’t.
This is a great read and vid. Lots of work Tim we love it. I may have to try and stream it now!