Apple’s new The Enfield Poltergeist documentary dives into the real story of the infamous UK haunting
As popular as paranormal shows and documentaries are, there’s really only a handful of them that mystify people enough to consider the possibility that ghosts are real. The United States, for instance, will forever have The Amityville Haunting, which produced an entire franchise of movies and books given how aggressively it took over the American psyche when it reached the zeitgeist. England has The Enfield Haunting. Or The Conjuring 2 haunting, as many might know it as.
Apple + dropped a trailer for their new docuseries focusing on the British haunting, titled The Enfield Poltergeist, a project that might garner a lot of attention for its connection with The Conjuring universe. It took place in 1977, when a working-class family in Enfield, London claimed their house was visited upon by angry ghosts that caused kids to levitate and be thrown around by unseen forces. All four episodes drop on Friday, October 17, 2023.
The case is not without its controversy. Much like Amityville, accusations of the haunting being staged for publicity, fame, or financial gain were quick to make the rounds. Skeptics point to the picture “evidence” of the poltergeist as being fabricated, and that it was quite obvious at that. Pictures of family members levitating, for instance, have been subjected to considerable scrutiny as they seem to show girls just launching themselves up into the air or jumping to give off the impression they were being thrown around by ghosts.
This isn’t the only documentary dropping this year tied to the James Wan-developed horror franchise. Netflix is releasing its own, titled The Devil on Trial, the first case in the US to attempt a “demonic possession” defense at a murder trial. It was the basis for the third Conjuring movie, what many consider to be the weakest entry of the three films. The Devil on Trial will also drop on October 17.
These two docs lay bare the fictionalized aspects behind the films, especially in the case of the Enfield haunting. The Conjuring 2 made it look like The Warrens, the paranormal investigators and exorcists driving the films, were mostly responsible for riding the house of its demonic afflictions despite investigator Maurice Grosse alleging they were only there briefly. Grosse was the original investigator behind the Enfield Haunting, staying on the case for the duration of it while also acting as witness to some of the more extreme phenomena (levitation, changes in voice).
In fact, Apple also revealed the series will draw heavily from Grosse’s research, especially from the recordings he made and the reports he wrote up. Events will be recreated and will aim for fidelity to the sources. All of this to say, this won’t be The Conjuring 2.
The Enfield Haunting does have an interesting cultural record, having been used as the basis and inspiration for other movies and TV series. One notable project that used it as its foundation was the 1992 BBC television movie Ghostwatch, a pseudo-reality horror documentary that aired on Halloween of the same year. It took the form of a live special report on a haunting at a house on the fictional Foxhill Drive area in Northolt, Greater London. The found footage genre owes it a lot, preceding The Blair Witch Project by seven years.
The Enfield Poltergeist is a fascinating case that should yield a compelling watch once it premieres. Myths can certainly be shattered here, especially if the hoax allegations are treated seriously enough (some of which are referenced in both The Conjuring 2 and Ghostwatch). Real or not, there’s potential for deep fear to set in the series. Ultimately, audiences will have enough to be afraid of. Even if the haunting is entirely human.
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