SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: Tan Jia Yi

STUDENT ID NO: 0319476

FILMS SELECTED: The Conjuring & Insidious: Chapter 2

WORD COUNT: 884

ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 5TH DECEMBER 2014

Compare & Contrast Essay

What makes The Conjuring a huge box-office success? What draws people to watch Insidious: Chapter 2? These two horror films which are both directed by James Wan, were released in year 2013, and they became hot topics for the audiences during the period when the films were showing at cinemas. The Conjuring is based on a true story. Strange things start happening around the Perron family with escalating nightmarish terror after they move into a farm house (Kenneth,2013). Whereas Insidious: Chapter 2 is a sequel to 2010’s Insidious. The film talks about a husband and wife who seek to uncover the secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. (FilmDistrict, 2013) Even though these two horror films have different story lines and plots, but they do share some similarities.

In both The Conjuring and Insidious 2, the films involve supernatural elements. In The Conjuring, the Perron family finds a hidden basement which has its entrance blocked with planks and they are haunted by noises and ghosts. For example, doors creak and slam shut without a person behind them (William, 2013). Voices of someone who is not a Perron child is heard during a game of hide and seek. In Insidious: Chapter 2, Renai is haunted by a woman in white after the Lambert family temporarily moves to the old house of Lorraine Lambert. For example, Renai hears a woman talking to her baby with a creepy voice and then she hears the woman smack the baby when the baby cries. The door then opens and the baby is missing. (Sognobello, 2013)These scenes from the films show paranormal elements which are one of the similarities between The Conjuring and Insidious: Chapter 2.

In addition, parental love is shown in both films. In The Conjuring, Carolyn shows her maternal love when she expresses her concern after her daughter tells her that she feels someone pulling at her feet. Carolyn seeks the help of paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to validate their concerns so that her family can be safe, especially her daughters. Besides that, when Carolyn is possessed by evil, the evil leaves her body at the moment she thinks about her daughters and starts struggling. In Insidious: Chapter 2, Josh as a father shows his love for his son when he rescues his son, who possesses a supernatural ability to travel through different worlds and is trapped in a dark spirit world inhabited by demons. This shows Josh’s parental love as he chooses to save his son even though he knows that he might be at risk if he does that. Parental love can be clearly seen from these scenes in both films.

Similarly, both films show a community background which is willing to lend a helping hand. In The Conjuring, Carolyn asks Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators for help. They soon conduct an initial investigation and explain to the Perron family that the house may require an exorcism (Braintrip, 2013). When Carolyn is possessed by demon, Ed tries to help her by yelling for the demon to leave her body. In Insidious: Chapter 2, Carl helps the Lambert family by asking his friend, Elise to help discover what is haunting Josh by using word-dice. Besides, Carl also agrees to help Josh forget his astral projections as this is the best thing to

do for him (Sognobello, 2013). These examples show a community which assists people when they ask for help.

Furthermore, there are background stories in both films. In The Conjuring, Ed and Lorraine find out that the house belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba. When Bathsheba’s husband caught her sacrificing their week-old infant as an offering to Satan, she climbed to the top of a tree on the property, cursed all those who would take her land, and proclaimed her love for Satan before committing suicide. This is followed by reports found of numerous murders and suicides in houses that have since been built upon the property (Braintrip, 2013). In Insidious: Chapter 2, Josh, Carl and Elise find out that Parker’s mother had raised him as a girl, calling him Marilyn and abusing him violently. It is further revealed that Parker was a serial killer who put on women’s makeup and a black wedding dress to kill young women, which explains the corpses under the cloths in a room, who were his victims ( Sognobello, 2013). Obviously these two films have their own background stories.

To me, The Conjuring and Insidious: Chapter 2 share some similarities in having supernatural elements, a community which help the people in need, a background story and showing parental love. In my opinion, the director, James Wan did a really good job on these two films. Both films are logical, with regards to conventional scares that are exploited to the maximum to evoke atmosphere and dread in accordance with mainstream cinema horror. Both films succeeded in exceeding audience’s expectations by producing above average scares and no doubt went on to make their millions. Although these two films do stay very true to the horror genre, I have learned some useful lessons from the movies. According to Ed Warren (2013) in The Conjuring, the devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destinies hinge on which we decide to follow.

Reference list

1. Braintrip. (2013). Synopsis for The Conjuring. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_ql_3

2. Sognobello. (2013). Synopsis for Insidious: Chapter 2. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2226417/synopsis

3. William. G (September 13, 2013). Review:”Insidious: Chapter 2”. Retrieved from http://www.film.com/movies/insidious-chapter-2-review

4. William. G (June 27, 2013). Review:”The Conjuring”. Retrieved from http://www.film.com/movies/the-conjuring-review

5. Kenneth. C. (2013). The Conjuring. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/

6. FilmDistrict. (2013). Insidious:Chapter2 Plot Summary. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2226417/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl