Editorials
Reflections on ‘The Conjuring’ – James Wan & Cast Look Back on Horror’s Biggest Franchise
“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.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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