FILM 1581: THE CONJURING 2 

TRIVIA: James Wan was offered a "life-altering" amount of money in order to direct Fast 8 (2017). However, he turned that opportunity down to direct The Conjuring 2 (2016) instead. "I feel rejuvenated to tell a scary story one more time," Wan wrote on Instagram.

The remaining members of the Hodgson family visited the set. Frances O'Connor, who portrays their late mother, refused to meet them, as she feared it would affect her performance.

Patrick Wilson did his own singing.

On the first day of shooting, a priest was brought in to bless the set.

One of the real-life allegations that didn't feature in the movie, was that the Hodgson children's toys were thrown around and were too hot to touch.

Some have claimed that the real Janet is a gifted ventriloquist or the power to manipulate voices and she admitted faking some events. She revealed that around two percent of the haunting was phony during an interview with The Telegraph.

The opening scene where the Warrens are seen partaking in a séance in the Amityville Horror House, Lorraine is seen wearing a trenchcoat and a skirt. Inspiration for this costume was taken from what the real Lorraine Warren wore during a séance in real life during the Amityville case. She wore a replica of the outfit right down to the styling of her hair.

The ghost boy that Lorraine sees when astral projecting is based on the infamous Amityville photo supposedly taken by Gene Campbell, a professional photographer who was part of the team who worked with paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The Society of Psychical Research in England researched this case long before The Warrens, and it was determined it was Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis. Grosse and Playfaire moved into the house at one point and investigated this case for over a year. The Warrens just showed up and stayed for a couple of days.

FILM 1523: ANNABELLE

TRIVIA: The movie portrays the Annabelle doll as a porcelain doll, but the real Annabelle doll is a large "Raggedy Ann" doll. The Warrens had a special case built for Annabelle inside their Occult Museum, where she resides to this day.

The baby mobile hanging over the crib plays the same tune as the music box from The Conjuring.

The real Annabelle doll was given to Donna (a college student at the time) by her mother in 1970. Her and her roommate Angie noticed that the doll would move subtlety, then within a few weeks became fully mobile moving from one room to another while they were gone.

Ellen DeGeneres lived in the apartment used in the movie. While promoting Annabelle (2014) in her show (Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Shia LaBeouf/Gina Rodriguez/Padma Lakshmi/Guest DJ Meghan Trainor (2014)), she explained that: "The apartment in the movie was my first apartment that I moved to in L.A. That was the building I lived in; where they shot the movie. I was watching it going: 'That looks familiar' and it was my building. It was scary back then too."

A 1963 episode of "The Twilight Zone" called "Living Doll" involves a talking doll given to a young girl by her mother. The doll's innocent vocabulary soon takes a sinister tone, especially towards the girl's cruel stepfather. The girl's mother is named Annabelle.

Prequel to "The Conjuring" (2013).

The doll prop used for Annabelle is the same one from the 2013 film 'The Conjuring'.

The elevator scene was directed by James Wan.

Annabelle (2014) carries references to the cult classic Rosemary's Baby (1968) starring Mia Farrow as Rosemary and John Cassavetes as Guy, a young couple moving into a new building. The leading characters in Annabelle (2014) are Mia and John. They name their newborn daughter Leah; this is the name of one of the neighbors Rosemary and Guy meet in their new building. Both films also incorporate a dramatic scene involving an elevator. Annabelle (2014) is set in 1969, Rosemary's Baby (1968) in 1966. In 1969 actress Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family. She was eight months pregnant at the time. Sharon Tate was married to director Roman Polanski who directed Rosemary's Baby (1968).

FILM 1212: THE CONJURING

TRIVIA: When the movie was shown in the Philippines, some cinemas had to hire Catholic priests to bless the viewers before showing it. This is due to some viewers having reported a "Negative Presence" after watching the film. The priests also provided spiritual and psychological help to the viewers.

The film was given an R rating by the MPAA. The filmmakers had thought the final cut had a chance of getting the more-box office friendly PG-13 rating and asked the ratings board for clarification. The MPAA said simply that the film was so scary that there were no cuts or edits possible that would make it a viable PG-13 film; the filmmakers did not want to alter the film's tone and accepted the R-rating without any appeals.

Eight generations of families lived and died in the house before the Perrons moved in. Andrea Perron suggests that some of the spirits from the families never left. Deaths include two documented suicides, a poisoning death, the rape and murder of an 11-year old girl, two drownings, and the passing of four men who froze to death. Most deaths occurred within the Arnold family from which Bathsheba Sherman was descended.

Was shot in chronological order.

Lorraine Warren and Andrea Perron served as consultants to director James Wan and the screenwriters. They both claim the movie is accurate to the real story of what happened to the Perrons during the 10 years they lived in the farm house.

The real Annabelle doll was actually a used Raggedy Ann doll that was bought by Donna's mother at a hobby shop and was known for not only leaving notes on parchment when there was no parchment around but also attacked a friend named Lou by mysteriously leaving claw marks on his chest. The makers of the movie decided to make a more cynical looking porcelain doll for the movie.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga both traveled to Connecticut to meet with Lorraine Warren prior to filming.

Director James Wan modeled the film's cinematography and atmosphere after vintage 1970s horror films.