03-018 Other screen adaptations of the Warrens

03-018
Other screen adaptations of the Warrens

Until there is another installment in The Conjuring Universe, this post will be the last of “The Warrens” chapter. In this post, I will round it up with the other lesser screen adaptations of the Warrens. And they are all appearing on the small screen.

The real life demonologist couple Ed and Lorraine Warren have investigated in more than a thousand of paranormal cases throughout their career. And any of their cases can be dramatized into screen adaptations. In previous posts, we have seen their notable investigations being adapted into movies, TV films, TV miniseries or TV episode. Now, we are going to look into other TV episodes which also contain dramatization of their cases.

Note: I will skip all those talk shows, interviews or documentaries. Only TV shows with dramatized parts are included.

A Haunting

A Haunting, produced by Discovery Channel

A Haunting is an American paranormal drama anthology television series aired on Discovery Channel from 2002. The series depict eyewitness accounts of alleged possession, exorcism, and ghostly encounters. Apart from the first special episode “A Haunting in Connecticut”, a dramatization of the “Snedeker house haunting”, which we have talked about, there are at least 4 more episodes adapted cases investigated by the Warrens.

"Hell House" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Lorraine (left) and the medium Lee

The episode is about a reported haunting in a 19^th century house in the 89 Buckingham Road, Seymour, Connecticut. The Warrens were dramatized by unknown artists and Lorraine Warren herself appeared in the show as an interviewee.

"Where Demons Dwell" (Season 2, Episode 4)

Ed and Lorraine Warren, questioning the demon

This episode is actually an adaptation of the trail of “Arnie Cheyenne Johnson”. But the plotline is greatly alerted. The trail is totally not mentioned in the episode and no one died in the show. So, it is the “Demon Murder Case” without the murder and the case, only the demon!

Anyway, The real life Arnie Johnson, his wife and Lorraine Warrens appeared in the show as interviewees. And Shirley Vaughn returned as Lorraine and Kevin Clay as Ed.

“The Dark Side” (Season 3, Episode 10)

The Warrens assisting the priest for a exorcism

This episode was dedicated to the memory of Ed, who died in 2006. It talks about a haunting experience in a historical house in New England. This time, we saw Ralph Denton Sr. returned as Ed and a new face for Lorraine, Margarette Strom. Real life Lorraine Warren also appeared in the show.

"Monster in the Apartment" (Season 4, Episode 12)

The Warrens did not appear in the drama part but Lorraine appeared in an interview

Haunting moved to an apartment in Edmonton, Canada. The Warrens were not dramatized in the show. They only appeared on the other side of the phone. But real life Lorraine Warren appeared in the show to discuss the haunting.

 

The Warrens are very famous and many TV shows have featured their investigations. But meanwhile that’s all I can find. I will leave the post open and will add more TV episodes here if I can find more. Thank you.

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03-017 華倫夫婦「狼人」事件補完計劃

03-017
華倫夫婦「狼人」事件補完計劃

Note: This post is written in Cantonese and there is no translation of it.

超自然現象調查者華倫夫婦，佢哋一生曾經調查過嘅超自然事件超過一萬宗，而當中嘅著名案件，「維基百科」就列出咗九宗。

華倫夫婦
Image Source: Wikipedia

喺之前嘅貼文入面，我已經介紹過，當中嘅七件案件，都起碼有一次被改編成電影或電視劇，為免麻煩，要大家睇返之前嘅文，我而家用中文再列多一次出嚟畀大家參考：

• 「安娜貝爾事件」（《詭娃安娜貝爾：造孽》、《詭娃安娜貝爾》、《詭娃安娜貝爾：回家》）
• 「羅德島鬼屋」（《詭屋驚凶實錄》）
• 「阿米提維爾鬼屋」（《黎明》、《阿米蒂維爾謀殺案》、《靈異鬼現》、《靈時3點3》、《詭屋驚凶實錄2》、《鬼殺人》、《魂銷魄散》、《陰宅：惡靈甦醒》）
• 「恩菲爾德騷靈事件」（《凶宅異聞錄》、《詭屋驚凶實錄2》）
• 「夏恩·強生」（《惡魔謀殺案》、《詭屋驚凶實錄3：魔旨》）
• 「康乃狄克鬼屋」（《鬼影森森：康涅狄格鬼屋事件》、《康州驅魔實錄》）
• 「斯穆爾家庭」（《鬧鬼》）

註：以上戲名同電視劇名盡量採用香港譯名，揾唔到先用台灣或內地譯名。

華倫夫婦有將佢哋嘅調查記錄出版成唔同嘅書，但係對於一個有兩個小朋友嘅爸爸，真係冇乜時間睇書，所以要了解呢啲案件嘅詳細情況，改編作品幫到我好多。

不過，依然有兩件華倫夫婦嘅著名案件係未被改編成熒幕作品嘅，佢哋就係「狼人」同「康涅狄格州伊斯頓聯合公墓」事件。冇電影或電視劇睇，唔通一定要睇書？

都唔一定嘅，改編作品唔一定要係熒幕作品，改編可以係話劇、漫畫，甚至冇影象都得，例如廣播劇，又或者錄音節目。咁啱我好鍾意嘅錄音節目《迷離公路》，就有一集講華倫夫婦嘅「狼人」事件，特別介紹畀大家。 

唔知溫子仁嘅《詭屋驚凶實錄宇宙》將來會點發展，我希望佢會拍埋剩低嗰兩個案件，又或者會重制返「康乃狄克鬼屋」同「斯穆爾家庭」，但係喺未有進一步消息前，聽吓 Herro 嘅《迷離公路》，都可以叫做補完返華倫夫婦部份嘅 open cases，希望大家喜歡。

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03-016 Notable investigations not yet dramatized

03-016
Notable investigations not yet dramatized

The real life demonologist couple Ed and Lorraine Warren have investigated in more than a thousand of paranormal cases throughout their career. Any of their cases can be dramatized into a movie or a TV program. Wikipedia has listed out 9 notable investigations of the Warrens.

In the previous posts, we have seen 7 of those cases were already dramatized. Some of them were even dramatized for more than once. Below is a complete list:

• “Annabelle” (Annabelle: Creation, Annabelle, Annabelle Comes Home)
• “Perron family” (The Conjuring)
• “Amityville” (The Dawn, The Amityville Murders, The Amityville Horror, The Conjuring 2, Amityville II: The Possession, Amityville 3-D, Amityville The Awakening)
• “Enfield poltergeist” (The Enfield Haunting, The Conjuring 2)
• “Arne Johnson” (The Demon Murder Case, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It)
• “Snedeker house” (“A Haunting in Connecticut”, The Haunting in Connecticut)
• “Smurl family” (The Haunted)

But there are still 2 notable investigations that have not been dramatized yet, the “Union Cemetery” investigation & the “Werewolf” investigation.

Details of “Union Cemetery” & “Werewolf” investigations
can be found in the books written by Ed Warren

We do not know how The Conjuring Universe will be expanded in the future. Up to the time of writing, there was never ever any failure in The Conjuring Universe. It is the most profitable horror movie franchise at present. The market has a high expectation to see more Conjuring movies coming out. So maybe in just a few years, we would see the remaining 2 investigations also being dramatized and we can see Patrick Wilson fighting with Bill Ramsey on the big screen. We never know!

However, while waiting for the Conjuring-verse to expand, are there any substitutes that we can watch or listen to at the moment? The answer is yes. I found 2 podcasts that covered both investigations.

"Union Cemetery"

"Werewolf"

The podcasts are very good. They are very detailed and I like the voice of the podcasters. I am not a native English speaker but I can understand every single word of what they said without reading any subtitle. I highly recommend listening those while we wait for James Wan.

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03-015 Amityville The Awakening

03-015
Amityville The Awakening

When I started looking into the Amityville Horror saga, “Amityville Horror Wiki” is the first few pages I refer myself to. I started learning from there the basic idea of this special, funny and totally out of control “franchise”. I got a list of movies which are so-called “Theatrical Films Canon”, and how many of them show some continuities. Then I started collecting those movies and ready for my horror movie adventure.

“Amityville Horror Wiki” suggested 7 movies as the “Theatrical Films Canon”: 1979 The Amityville Horror, 1982 AmityvilleII: The Possession, the 2005 remake, 2018 The Amityville Murders, 1993 Amityville 3-D, 2017 Amityville The Awakening & 2019 TheAmityville Dawn. I went one step further to watch the 1989 Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes, as it follows the official “novel” series.

Today, I am going to talk about the last in “Theatrical Films Canon”, the 2017 Amityville The Awakening.

Movie poster of Amityville The Awakening

Only premiered in 2017, this movie is quite new, I think you may still have a chance to watch it if you haven’t. So, I put the word “Spoilers warning” below.  Don’t worry, I won’t spoil too much.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

At the beginning of the movie, we saw a family moving into the infamous house in Amityville and, things started happening. The movie gives a time, 2014. It connects very well to the Amityville Horror saga timeline.

Hey, didn’t the house being blown up at the end of Amityville 3-D? Hold on, I will explain.

Amityville The Awakening does not connect itself to the beginning of other movies, like a prequel. It also does not connect itself to the end of other movies, like a sequel. It connects itself on top of other movies.

Amityville The Awakening happens in the “real world”. In the movie, the DeFeo killings are real. Lutz family is real. The Warrens should be real, but not mentioned. And the evil inside the house… well, you watch it. But the previous movies are only “movies” here.

It is more like the idea of Wes Craven's New Nightmare. In the movie, the elder daughter of the family met a guy called Terrance in her new school and Terrance brought out a DVD of the 1979 The Amityville Horror and suggested to watch it inside the very house.

This is how the movie works out

Now, you know how it works out. No explanation is needed for the blown up house, or the differences between the classic and the remake, or whether the house is really clean after Amityville 4. These are all movies. You find contradictions? Talk to their directors. Under the same concept, Valak from The Conjuring Universe should also be “a movie plot” only.

Rating of this movie is generally good. But to be honest, I don’t like this idea. It keeps my head aching for hours after watching.

Spoilers end.

This post will probably be the last on Amityville. So, let me summarize the timeline of the Amityville Horror saga.

• 2019 The Dawn
  
• 2018 The Amityville Murders
• 1979 The Amityville Horror
• 2016 The Conjuring 2
• 1982 Amityville II: The Possessions
• 1989 Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes (optional)
• 1983 Amityville 3-D
• 2017 Amityville: The Awakening

I am taking the theory of Amityville II: The Possession as a sequel and placing Amityville 3-D after Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes as the house blown up at the end of Amityville 3-D.

You can consider The Conjuring 2 is a cross-over between The Conjuring Universe and Amityville Horror saga. Just like Alien vs. Predator. Both creatures met together and they did things. Then they separated and continued to have their own stories. The Warrens went to Amityville, did something, and left, together with Valak. If you want to learn more on the Amityville story, watch those movies. Or if you are happy, you can just leave it like this. You won’t find the Warrens in those Amityville movies anyway.

 

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03-014 Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes

03-014
Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes

Okay, now it comes the 1989 Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes. This is my seventh Amityville movie and the first low budget TV movie in the list. And things start coming out of track from here.

Movie poster of Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes

At the beginning of the movie, a real estate agent escorted a group of priests to try blessing the … you know where. Blessing is semi-successful only, with a priest ended up in a hospital, but at least the house is finally clean, well, according to the priest leader Father Manfred.

Things certainly did not end here. The demon ended up possessed a lamp. And eventually, someone bought the lamp and send it to the other side of America. Story then shifted from the Atlantic to the Pacific!

This kind of possessed stuffs concept actually goes endless. We saw this idea keeps repeating in many of the following movies. We had a lamp here and later on we saw a clock, a mirror, a dollhouse, some woods, a toy monkey, a painting and, just before the end of 2020, we had a used, second-hand vibrator! I definitely will not watch all these movies. No way! I won’t do this! Never!

All the first 9 movies, including this one, are considered as the canon of the Amityville Horror saga. I don’t know what is the stand point of this statement as I already see things start getting wrong just in the 4^th installment.

At the end of Amityville 3-D, the house was blown up. But in Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes, we again see the house in a good shape. No explanation was given. The only way to fit this movie into the existing timeline is to place it before Amityville 3-D.

Would this make sense? Yes, a bit. At the beginning of Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes, we saw the house full of furniture. We can assume those were the leftovers from the Lutz, if you consider Amityville II: The Possession is a prequel, or from the Montelli, if you consider it is a sequel. Then it came the yard sales and the house was emptied for the Baxter to move it. However, this would mean Father Manfred was wrong. The house is not clean.

Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes (1989) | Horror Film Wiki | Fandom -
https://horror.fandom.com/wiki/Amityville_4:_The_Evil_Escapes_(1989)

Other problem is the year of filming. Amityville 3-D does not give a date. We can only assume the story took place in its present time, i.e. 1983. But Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes did give a date. In one of the dialogue between Father Manfred and Father Dennis Kibbler, the DeFeo killing was mentioned as happened 12 years ago.

A dozen years ago ...
evil was simply a concept in my mind.
That house in Amityville
has changed that concept to reality ...
forever.

For three hundred years ...
no one has lived on that ground
without tragic consequences.

In recent, 1974, boy murdered his
entire family, because the voices
in the house told him to do it.

A dozen years ago I would've thought
that, what you saw on that lamp ...
was a hallucination brought on by fear.

Now ...
Now I believe ...
that the evil in that house
could transmigrated to that lamp.
That it can and will transmigrate
into another object ...
or another house ...
or another person ...
at the earliest opportunity. 

Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes Movie Script (scripts.com) -
https://www.scripts.com/script.php?id=amityville_4%3A_the_evil_escapes_2742&p=6

This set Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes in 1986, 3 years before its production. So to fit everything in, we need to push the story of Amityville 3-D 3 years backward. This is not totally unconvincing. 3 year is not a long time. We just need to assume that no one in the Amityville 3-D movie has ever bought any new stuffs for that 3 years.

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