The Conjuring (2013)

👻 Happy thoughts don’t kill demons… apparently. 👻

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🎥 Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

🎬 Opening 10 Minutes

This film wastes no time messing with your nerves. We open on the Warrens explaining the backstory of Annabelle — yeah, that doll. In real life she was a Raggedy Ann. In the movie, they said nope, let’s make her a demonic porcelain nightmare with pigtails. She gets locked in the Warren’s cursed artifacts room, in a blessed glass case, because “lol otherwise she’ll murder you in your sleep.” The first ten minutes establish that the Warrens are paranormal investigators and immediately sets the creepy tone. Then we cut to the family moving into their new house… and the slow-burn dread begins.

The Real Case vs. The Film

The Conjuring 2 is “based on” the infamous Enfield Poltergeist case from 1977 in London, which is one of the most publicized paranormal cases in history. In reality, the case revolved around Peggy Hodgson and her four children, especially two daughters — Janet (age 11) and Margaret (age 13) — who reported furniture moving on its own, knocking sounds, and Janet speaking in a deep “possessed” voice that was supposedly that of a dead man named Bill Wilkins. Neighbors, police, and even journalists witnessed some of the activity, though many skeptics called it a hoax, claiming the children faked voices and staged events for attention.

Now, in the actual history, Ed and Lorraine Warren weren’t nearly as central as the movie makes them. They briefly visited but weren’t the lead investigators. The real case involved the Society for Psychical Research and investigators like Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair, who spent two years in the Hodgson home. The events were dragged out, messy, and controversial — and very much debated even today.

In the movie version, though, the case is boiled down into a more streamlined horror story. The Warrens are recast as the saviors, personally battling the demon Valak and directly saving the children from possession. The haunting is exaggerated with over-the-top scares: levitations, crosses turning upside down, the nun demon Valak stalking Lorraine, and Ed nearly dying after being attacked.

Essentially, the film sanitizes the messiness of the case. In real life, the evidence was inconclusive, filled with accusations of fakery and staged moments. In the film, it’s clear-cut evil: the Nun demon is behind everything, manipulating ghosts like Bill Wilkins. What was ambiguous in reality becomes a Hollywood-ready “demon with a name” storyline.

So while The Conjuring 2 sells itself as “based on true events,” it’s really a heavily fictionalized, dramatized version of a case that in reality is still argued over today.

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📖 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

So we got a mom, dad, and their four daughters moving into a Rhode Island farmhouse. New house vibes at first, then things go downhill quick — the dog dies, doors slam, weird smells, random bruises, and everyone’s basically living in a horror show. Mom seeks help from Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). Lorraine can actually see spirits, and she spots the evil instantly: Bathsheba, a witch who cursed the land and hanged herself on a tree outside the house. From there it’s a classic escalation: creepy night scares, failed attempts to run, and finally the Warrens staying overnight to do battle with this witch/demon thing before the family gets ripped apart.

😱 The Wardrobe Jumpscare
I gotta talk about that moment. Two of the Perron girls are asleep in their room, when one wakes up to see her sister standing and pointing at the wardrobe. At first, there’s nothing there. Then, slowly, we realize she’s not pointing at the wardrobe — she’s pointing on top of it. And sure enough, Bathsheba is crouched up there like some demonic gargoyle, her head jerking down at them before she launches herself screaming. It’s fast, it’s brutal, and it’s one of the best modern jump scares because it doesn’t cheat — the camera lingers just long enough for your brain to connect the dots right before she attacks.


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👥 Character Rundown

Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) – the family man/exorcism rookie who steps up big time. Hesitant at first, but brave enough to say “fine, I’ll do it myself.”

Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) – the heart of the team. Clairvoyant, compassionate, sees way too much terrifying stuff.

Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) – the mom who becomes the demon’s target/host. She goes from victim to possessed monster in a blink.

Roger Perron (Ron Livingston) – the dad who basically just looks stressed the entire movie and calls the Warrens like, “fix my house plz.”

The Perron daughters – the main scare-bait. Sleepwalking, pointing at invisible corners, getting yanked out of bed. One of them sees Bathsheba sitting on top of a wardrobe (nightmare fuel).



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⏱️ Pacing / Episode Flow

This movie builds like a haunted house ride. Starts slow, gets creepy with the subtle stuff (bruises, smells, shadows), then goes full demon rollercoaster by the third act. By the time you’re in the basement with a blood-soaked sheet over Carolyn’s face, it’s pure nightmare fuel.


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✅ Pros

James Wan knows how to direct scares — this is tension horror, not cheap gore.

The wardrobe scare? Iconic.

The Warrens feel like real people, not just ghostbusters-for-hire.

Annabelle cameo is legendary setup.

Soundtrack + sound design = 10/10 creepy atmosphere.

Eerie black-and-white end credits with real case photos = chef’s kiss creepy.



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❌ Cons

“Happy memory defeats demon” is… a bit corny. Like really, Bathsheba can be undone by Care Bear Stare energy?

The “mom has to stay in the house or she’ll die instantly” rule feels like it came out of nowhere.

The daughters besides the one in the wardrobe scene don’t get much to do except scream.

Ed doing an exorcism with no training is questionable, but the movie wants you to roll with it.



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💭 Final Thoughts

This film scared the absolute crap outta me the first time. It’s disturbing, relentless, and way more effective than most “based on a true story” horrors. Even if the third act leans a little into corny territory with the “happy thought” resolution, it’s still an excellent modern haunted house flick. Easily one of the scariest movies of the 2010s.


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🎯 Rating

Solid 10/10.


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning

Stop here if you haven’t seen it.


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🩸 Spoilers

Bathsheba’s backstory: she was a witch who sacrificed her child to the devil and then cursed the land before hanging herself. Her spirit lingers and latches onto Carolyn.

The daughters’ room scenes are terrifying. One points at the wardrobe, the other looks — nothing there — then BAM Bathsheba crawls on top like a horror parkour move and leaps at them.

Carolyn gets fully possessed and tries to kill her kids. The Warrens drag her to the basement, tie her to a chair, cover her with a sheet, and start an exorcism. The sheet gets soaked in blood as she coughs it up, and at one point rips so you see Bathsheba’s face underneath.

The demon makes Ed choke out the Latin phrases. Lorraine breaks through to Carolyn by making her remember her happiest family moments, weakening Bathsheba’s hold.

Carolyn fights back, spits Bathsheba out (figuratively), and returns to herself just before she can kill her kids.

Ending: the family leaves, the Warrens go home, and add the haunted music box to their cursed artifacts room. Cue creepy end credits with real photos of the Perron family.