SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: ONG SENG PENG

STUDENT ID NO: 0319016

FILMS SELECTED: “The Conjuring” & “Annabelle”

WORD COUNT: 996

ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 5TH DECEMBER 2014

The movies that I chose to compare are “The Conjuring” release on 2013 July and

“Annabelle” release on 2014 October. “The Conjuring” is directed by James Wan starred by

Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor whereas “Annabelle” is

directed by John R. Leonetti starred by Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton and Alfre Woodard.

Even though both of these movies start with the same opening scene, two young women and

a young man in 1968 are telling Ed and Lorraine Warren whom are paranormal investigators

about their experiences with a doll called Annabelle they believe to be haunted, the rest of the

story lines of these two movies have many different points.

The first difference is the beginning of mystery. In “The Conjuring”, a couple Roger

Perron and Carolyn with their 5 daughters Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April move

into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island smoothly even though their dog refused to enter

the house and they found a boarded up entrance to cellar. In the next morning, the mystery

happened when their dog is found dead in the garden, all the clocks in their house stopped at

3:07a.m and Carolyn’s leg is bruised when she woke up. In “Annabelle”, the mystery starts

when Mia is wake up by the murdering sound from their neighbour’s house. Her husband,

John went to inspect the house. He asked Mia to call police when he saw a lot of blood inside.

When Mia is about to call 911, she heard a voice telling her it liked the doll that recently her

husband gave her. She is frightened, and suddenly a man stabs her from behind. John runs in

and fights the man. The police then arrived shortly and shoot the man dead while the woman,

Annabelle, kills herself in another room. She left a symbol drawn on the wall using her own

blood while holding Mia's new doll. After investigations, the couple who died are found to

have been members of a demonic cult.

Next, the purpose of the evil spirit in these two movies is different. In “The

Conjuring”, Bathsheba, who was an witch, sacrificed her own new born baby. She cursed

whoever would moves into her house and claimed her love for Satan before she hangs herself.

These actions are deemed as loyal and will be given higher ranking in the demon world.

Since Perron family moved into the house, the evil spirit harassed them every night. The plot

of Bathsheba is to possess Carolyn, the mother of 5 daughters and kill all of them. In

“Annabelle”, two couple randomly invade into people houses and commits murdering. They

do so as they want to summon a demon by claiming a soul. When the police bump into the

house and shot Annabelle’s boyfriend, Annabelle was caught suicide in other room with

carrying the doll and a bloody symbol drawn on wall. Annabelle then latched her spirit to the

doll. Even John has thrown away the doll but it is able to go back to their house by itself.

Annabelle plots for Mia’s baby’s soul because she is innocent and the soul can be easily

offered from her.

Next is the difference of ending in these two stories. In “The Conjuring”, Ed and

Lorraine the paranormal investigator, was asked by Carolyn to help the Perron family to

expel the evil spirits. They are sure that the house is haunted but they need to collect evidence

for Catholic Church to perform exorcism. When Ed and Lorraine, found that the house that

Perron family live in was belong to Bathsheba, they quickly rush to their house to prevent

any tragedy happen. As expected, Carolyn was possessed and taking a scissor and attempt to

kill April, her youngest child. Fortunately, Lorraine successfully distracted her from killing

April by reminding her memory she shared with her family, thus allowing Ed successfully

completes the exorcism. In “Annabelle”, the church priest, Father Perez was asked to help the

couple Mia and John. The Father attempts to brings the doll to church and tries to clean the

evil spirit, however when the Father was approaching to the main door of the church, he was

pulled away by a great force, causing him injured. John rush to warn Mia. Mia is worried and

scared. She rushed back to see her baby from the laundry. However, the baby is disappeared.

Annabelle taunts Mia with all the scribbling on the ceiling and wall with crayon. Mia mad,

attempts to break the doll and ask if there is any other way and the evil spirit reveal to her

says that she can offer her soul. John and Evelyn, break open the door find Mia is carrying

the doll, ready to jump from the apartment to exchange the deal with the evil spirit for her

baby’s life. John persuades her wife desperately. While Evelyn thinks that she should

sacrifice her life for her baby as she has been guilty for years because she had caused her own

baby died in an accident. She thinks that this action will atone to her own fault and took the

chance to hold the doll and jumped from the apartment. Since then Mia and her family never

were disturbed again.

Finally, Annabelle doll now is resides in a case in Ed and Lorraine Warren's little

museum, and that it's blessed by a priest twice a month. This scene is shown in “The

Conjuring” even though the main evil spirit was Bathsheba. These two stories are actually

connected. First is during 1967, the doll is being latched by Annabelle, and then in 1968,

someone told Ed and Lorraine that they saw a doll they believed it is haunted, hence, Ed and

Lorraine go to calm the evil spirit and put them into their own little museum, and lastly in

1971, the story of “The Conjuring” is unfold where Ed and Lorraine helped the Perron family

to perform exorcism whose house had been haunted.

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