“It’s good to remind us where all this started. It’s such a big universe now, but this is where we started.”
James Wan has been a fixture in the hororr community since making his auspicious debut with Saw, but it was 2013’s The Conjuring that cemented his place as a modern master of horror and launched his directing career into studio tentpole territory.
With The Conjuring: Last Rites bringing the franchise — or, at least, its first phase — to a close this weekend, the original film has been released on 4K UHD. Among the special features is “Reflections on The Conjuring,” a new feturette in which cast and crew reflect on their experiences making the movie.
“James Wan, he was our first choice to direct. We sent him the screenplay, and he came onboard and elevated the film to what it became,” says producer Peter Safran, who now serves as co-CEO of DC Studios alongside James Gunn as a direct result of his work with Wan.
“He came up with Annabelle as a prologue. He enhanced all the scares,” Safran continues. “He just had such a unique view on what would make a really special supernatural thriller.”
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as husband-and-wife demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, a real couple with a long history of high-profile paranormal investigations.
“The way that he pitched it, at the time it was called The Warren Files,” Wilson recalls. “Conjuring was not in there, and there’s never been a movie on these guys.”
“It was based on real-life people, so I wanted to be respectful to that aspect of it,” Wan explains. “It was important, because I think it did inform my filmmaking. It forced me to keep things as grounded and as realistic as possible.”
Although Ed passed away in 2006, Lorraine served as a consultant on The Conjuring and makes a cameo as an audience member during a lecture by the Warrens’ on-screen counterparts. (Lorraine, who also consulted on The Conjuring 2, passed away in 2019.)
“Lorraine spent a lot of time with us on set on that first movie. She was such a bright and wonderful and lively presence and had incredible stories for all of us,” Safran notes. “She was so happy that we were being so respectful in the telling of her and Ed’s story.”
“I kind of expected her to be quite dark, because of all the things that she’s dealt with, but there’s a bright light that came from her the whole time,” says Shannon Kook, who played the Warrens’ assistant Drew Thomas. “I was quite surprised, but then I thought, ‘That makes sense, because to have to confront all that darkness, you would have to have that light around you.’”
“We had so much fun, because there was children on the set, it was light-hearted, wonderful people,” remembers John Brotherton, who played police officer Brad Hamilton.
“James Wan was such a good leader that it trickled down,” Kook says. “There was great vibes on set with everybody.”
“There was an authenticity with the special effects,” says Lili Taylor, who played haunted matriarch Carolyn Perron.
“It felt right that we were making an old-school haunted house film that we wanted to keep it true to the old ways of how these films were made,” Wans adds.
“When I was making The Conjuring, I knew it was going to be scary,” says Taylor. “I could feel when we were making it that James was tapping into something.”
“I remember the first screening at New Line, sitting there going, ‘Holy shit, this is amazing,’” Brotherton chuckles.
“I remember [Wan] saying, ‘If we do it right, we can keep coming back,’” notes Wilson.
They did indeed do it right, scaring up $319.5 million at the global box office on a $20 million budget. With nine films spanning 12 years, The Conjuring Universe has grossed a combined $2.2 billion, making it the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time.
“It’s been pretty special to be able to ride the wave of these films,” says Kook. “It’s just been wonderful to be able to be a part of each of those stories.”
“I’m just full of gratitude, I really am,” Farmiga reflects. “This has been extraordinary, and I’m proud. I’m proud of us. I’m proud of what this thing has accomplished. It’s a good feeling.”
The Conjuring is available now on 4K UHD.
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