By: Nora Doyle and Liv Miller

We’ve all heard of the ‘Annabelle’ and the ‘Conjuring’ movies, right? And we know the little clip in the very beginnings saying “Based on the true events” that may give viewers a shiver down their spine. Well we are going to be covering these true events and tell the real story of the Conjuring house.

The family that these stories are based off of is the Perron family. They moved into this house in Harrisville, Rhode Island in January of 1971. They had a pretty large family, consisting of the mother, Carolyn, and the father, Roger, and their five daughters.

As soon as they moved in, according to ‘All That’s Interesting,’ small things started to happen that caught their attention. The first thing was the broom. Carolyn would notice that the broom would go missing, or move from place to place without anyone touching it. Next, she would hear the sound of something scraping against the tea kettle when no one was in the kitchen. She would find small piles of dirt in the middle of a freshly-cleaned floor. Little things like this were the beginnings of a much bigger problem.

Soon enough, Carolyn and Roger’s daughters began to feel the presence of spirits as well. At first they described these spirits as harmless. There were a few, however, that were angry.

Andrea, the oldest daughter, said that the family experienced other kinds of spirits as well. Ones that smelled like rotting flesh. These spirits wild cause beds to rise off the floor, and sometimes even the children. She claims that her father would enter the basement and feel a “cold, stinking presence behind him.” They tried their best to stay out of the dirt-floored cellar, but heating equipment would fail mysteriously, causing Roger to venture down.

One thing that stayed completely true in the ‘Conjuring’ movies was paranormal detectives Ed and Loraine Warren. Ed Warren said he got into demonology (the study of demons or demonic belief) because he grew up in a haunted house. Loraine Warren was a light trance medium she claimed to experience peoples auras and connection with the deceased as early age 7 or 8 years old. The couple met when Loraine was only 16, and got married in 1945. Together they have investigated over 10,000 cases, and were known as the world’s best paranormal investigators.

In the ten years that the Perron family lived in that house, the Warrens had made a few visits to investigate just what might be going on. During one of the trips, Loraine decided to conduct a seance to get in contact with any spirits that may have been possessing their family. During the seance, Carolyn Perron had become what looked to be possessed, speaking in tongues and even rising from the ground in her chair. Andrea, her daughter has even claimed that she secretly witnessed this event saying “My mother began to speak a language not of this world in a voice not her own. Her chair levitated and she was thrown across the room.”

While doing research on the home, Carolyn discovered that all it’s past owners had been in the family for eight generations and that many of them had died mysteriously or under horrible circumstances. Several of the children in these families drowned in a nearby creek, one was murdered, and a few of them hung themselves in the attic.

They discovered that the angry spirit had perceived themselves as the mistress of the house and she resented the competition of a new mother living in the house. Her name was Bathsheba Sherman and she had lived in the house in the mid-1800s. The Perron family believes this is the spirit that was tormenting them.

So, when you see that text at the beginning of a movie, ”Based on the true events,” don’t think that it is 100% real. Because sometimes it’s not as scary as the movie makes it seem. But sometimes it’s worse…

For more information, please visit:

• https://allthatsinteresting.com/true-story-of-the-conjuring-perron-family-enfield-haunting

By: Hayden Fitzsimons

George Romero is likely a name that goes over the heads of many, however his affect on film and pop culture is immeasurable.

George Romero is one of the main reasons zombies have become as popular as they are today. Prior to Romero, very few pieces of media involving zombies existed. There were enough to inspire Romero, films such as ‘The White Zombie’ were a main influence to the creation of Romero’s first film ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ which was released in 1968. His film was unlike any other film before it, as his film contained extreme gore and a focus on the living dead, believe it or not.

17 years later, George Romero releases another zombie film, the staple of his filmmaking career. This film is ‘Day of the Dead,’ one of his lesser known and lesser appreciated films. Even so, many of Romero’s fans claim ‘Day of the Dead’ as their favorite Romero film. Personally, ‘Day of the Dead’ is the only film I’ve seen of his, however I’m greatly looking forward to seeing more as this film is quite entertaining.

‘Day of the Dead’ is, to put it simply, an entertaining yet extremely corny movie. This is a common thread in Romero’s films, as they are all low budget and kitschy films. Even despite the film’s corniness it remains a very entertaining film.

Yet, the first act of the film is a major issue in my opinion. I found the first 20 to 30 minutes extremely boring and borderline irritating. This issue is one that plagues many older films, but that doesn’t excuse ‘Day of the Dead.’

But, if you make it through the first act, which I highly recommend that you do, the film quickly picks up. The story which takes place is that of Dr. Sarah Bowman and a whole cast of characters ranging from soldiers to nearly insane scientists, trapped in an underground facility. They’ve been assigned the task of learning about the zombies which have ravaged America, but the soldiers are quickly becoming irritated with losing their men and resources to protect a collection of nerds who seem to be making very little progress. 

The issues and strengths of ‘Day of the Dead’ both derive from the characters. In the beginning of the film, many of the characters are nearly perfect cliches. The characters start as extremely one dimensional, irritating, and poorly acted. This makes the film become somewhat of a slog, a painful crawl until the film very quickly improves.

Once an actual threat and conflict arises, the characters who were once cliches have become endearing to the viewer and are now a set of fun characters who the viewer is rooting wholeheartedly for. After the film overcomes their initially poorly written characters, it becomes an action packed thrill ride that is non-stop entertainment.

By: Teah Henry

It’s October! This is the month of Halloween, which means candy, spooky decorations, and of course horror movies. Many people spend this month watching scary films, and if you were looking for any suggestions then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the most influential horror films that have ever been made. Let’s start with:

‘Psycho’ (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) 

Psycho’ is one of the most well known movies; even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve surely seen references, heard the score, or at least seen the famous shower scene. There’s also the well known prequel series, ‘Bates Motel’. 

At its release, it shocked most American audiences. Alfred Hitchcock had trouble with funding due to the horrific nature of the film, and had to put his own money into the making of it. It was filmed and released during the “Hays Code Era of Hollywood”. The code prohibited many things from being in movies. Only “correct standards of life” could be shown in a movie, and things like crime could not be shown unless the criminal was punished. This meant many movies did not show anything like the terror in ‘Psycho’, and Hitchcock’s clever avoidance of the censors and masterful filmmaking helped create one of the most well known horror films of all time. 

It was also the first Hollywood film to show a toilet on screen! 

‘The Exorcist’ (dir. William Friedkin, 1973)

‘The Exorcist’ did not have a good start. Many major stars turned down the request to be in it, sets had burned down, and it had to double the budget to finish filming. Not only that, but it had gotten mixed reviews from critics when it finally released.

Despite its problems, audiences loved it. Long lines formed to buy tickets, people waited outside in the cold to see it, and it gained notoriety for being absolutely horrifying. Many people fainted, threw up, and there were even heart attacks. Ozzy Osbourne said the movie inspired him and Black Sabbath to write even scarier music. 

It was the highest grossing horror movie until ‘It: Chapter One’s’ release in 2017. ‘The Exorcist’ was also the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that everyone remembers after viewing, and it’s influence on horror and our culture is undeniable. 

‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1974)

Similar to ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Texas Chainsaw’ caused a huge reaction among audiences. The violence in the film stirred a controversy. Many theaters refused to show it, and Hooper had trouble even finding a studio to distribute the movie.

It did make a lot of money however, and helped boost common horror tropes to the mainstream. It used the “based on the true story” tactic that is seen often now (such as in ‘The Conjuring’ franchise). Even though it is not really based on real events, it is loosely inspired by serial killer Ed Gein. 

‘Texas Chainsaw’ is cited as the movie starting many slasher movie tropes, and it is safe to say that the genre would not be the same if this film had not been released. 

Those are some of the most influential horror movies ever made, and if you’re looking for a spooky movie to watch this season, it wouldn’t hurt to check any of these three movies out.

By Irene Cohen and Ellie Mulvaney

Since Hollywood’s creation in 1910, this film industry has been a huge source of influence for its audience. It is currently the most dominating movie production agency in the world, and often is used as a representation of Americans, regardless of this image’s attainability. This becomes an issue when it is taken into consideration just how unrealistic the beauty standards in Hollywood are. It’s incredibly damaging for people to compare themselves to these famous figures, when the actors themselves struggle to fit the paragon of how they should look.

One example of this is one of Hollywood’s biggest icons; Marilyn Monroe. It was discovered that the actress had multiple plastic surgeries in secret with Dr. Michael Gurdin, and a few of his colleagues, throughout her years in the spotlight. The image that she projected onto young, impressionable women, was one that she herself didn’t even naturally have.

Of course, getting plastic surgery is not inherently harmful, but it further perpetuates unrealistic standards when it is not explicitly stated that certain features are artificial. Monroe went through chin, nose, and breast alterations, as reported by her medical records, where she got the surgeries using a cover name. Obviously, great lengths were taken to conceal the fact that her appearance was not completely natural, which consequently implied to her audience that they were expected to organically look like the figures that they saw on screen.

Monroe was praised as the ideal woman, though she herself went to extreme lengths just to fit the crazy Hollywood norms. She once stated, “When my looks start to go, so will most of my fans,” proving just how image-based the film industry is.

Another example from the past, was John Travolta’s transformation for the John Woo film ‘Broken Arrow,’ in the 1990’s. As a military officer, his character required him to lose around 20 pounds in a few weeks by boxing and dieting. Even at the age of 40, he was under scrutiny for his weight, influencing viewers to potentially not recognize the impacts of aging on the body. For everyone to think that they should look like, and weigh as much as, a young adult, even in their midlife years, is a damaging ideology that Hollywood has dangerously promoted.

One more recent example of this comes from actress Carrie Fisher. One might think that she may have gotten criticism for her weight when she was still a young, unknown actress, but now that she has achieved a legendary status, studios would want to book her regardless of her weight. Right? Turns out, this is not the case.

Fisher opened up about how she was forced to lose 35 pound to be cast as her renowned role as Princess Leia in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ Carrie Fisher had this to say after she was pressured to lose weight, “Nothing changes, it’s an appearance-driven thing.” You can clearly see why she said this especially with the history she has with the Star Wars franchise telling her to lose weight for her role. All the way back in 1977, when she was just 19 years old, and 105 pounds, producers still asked her to lose weight for her role as Princess Leia. Fisher was too right with this quote, and many actors and actresses can attest to that fact.

This pressure to be thin in Hollywood is not only thrust upon actresses, but actors as well. One Richard Madden speaks out on this fact. In one British Vogue interview he says, “I find myself with actor friends – after we’ve done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes – looking at each other going: ‘We’re just feeding this same s*** that we’re against.’”

He also goes on to say that he’s had his body rolls pinched at auditions, corset-like costumes to slim him down for the cameras, and flat out been told to lose weight and to go to the gym. In his interview, he clearly says that how he is filmed is not how he usually looks. The preparation he does for these scenes is not sustainable nor realistic, but many men may see these scenes and think to themselves, why don’t I look like that?