Based on true events, The Conjuring is an upcoming horror flick about a Rhode Island family terrorized by evil spirits. A trailer for the film (below) offers plenty of scares, but it seems the movie’s cast and crew experienced plenty of frights themselves. Production notes from Warner Bros. describe a number of the strange events that occurred during the making of The Conjuring.
The Conjuring is told from their perspective of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes often called Lorraine to discuss the case, though static frequently interrupted their conversations and the line had a habit of going dead. Though the Hayes were puzzled, Lorraine wasn’t surprised.
“We’re about to expose the dark side of the dark side, and it doesn’t want good to win” Warren told the brothers. “I’m surprised there isn’t a lot more interference.”
A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Conjuring is based on supernatural events that plagued the Perron family in the 1970s. Most of the Perrons visited the set of The Conjuring, but Carolyn Perron, the wife and mother depicted in the film, refused to come anywhere near it. However, keeping a distance didn’t keep her safe.
One afternoon, a gust of wind encircled the Perron family while they were on set in North Carolina. Though the wind itself wasn’t strange, crew members found it odd that the trees nearby seemed unaffected. Carolyn had remained behind in Atlanta, but around the same time the wind surrounded her family, she felt a dark presence and suffered a severe fall that put her in the hospital. A day or so later, the cast and crew of The Conjuring had to evacuate their hotel after a fire broke out.
Were the events just a coincidence or interference from the dark side?
The Unseen Intruder
Director James Wan also had unsettling experience while working on the film. Wan was in his office late one night, when he heard his puppy growling at something in the corner. James turned around to see what was upsetting his dog, but there was nothing in sight.
“Then she did something even creepier,” Wan said. “She started tracking whatever she was staring at, which was nothing, across the room. I was freaked out. It was at that very moment I knew the story had gotten into my psyche and was really affecting me in a big way.”
Actress Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren in the film, was fascinated by the events in The Conjuring, but felt uneasy reading the script. Farmiga admits she wouldn’t read the script at home or at night and could only review the story in “fits and spurts,” lest she be overwhelmed by fear. One day, Farmiga opened her laptop and saw five claw marks slashed across the screen.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” the actress said. “I do know I hadn’t dropped the computer, and my children hadn’t stepped on it. So I gingerly closed it, put it away, and then my brain just went beserk.”
Starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, and Mackenzie Foy, The Conjuring hits theaters this Friday.
Do you think it’s possible for evil forces to affect a film’s production?