The Forgotten ’90s Horror That Created The Conjuring Universe
After decades of low-profile “ghostbusting” in New England, Ed and Lorraine Warren were thrusted into the mainstream after the smash-hit horror film, The Conjuring, saw its 2013 release. The big screen adaptation of one of the parapsychologists’ case files spawned an entire cinematic universe, including two direct sequels and multiple offshoots that include The Nun and Annabelle franchises. But more than two decades before The Conjuring reinvented the horror genre for fans, a made-for-TV movie called The Haunted quietly gained the Warrens prominence among the paranormal community in 1991.
The Haunted was based on the book The Haunted: One Family’s Nightmare that the Warrens, the Smurls, and author Robert Curran collaborated on several years before.
The Haunted centered around a working class Pittston family named the Smurls. Not long after Jack (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Janet (Sally Kirkland) moved into an old duplex, a weird phenomenon began to manifest itself in the family’s new home. Along with their teen daughters and John’s elderly parents (who lived on the other half of the duplex), Jack and Janet heard strange noises at night and saw silhouettes of human figures cast along walls and in doorways.
As the minor events the Smurls witnessed in The Haunted escalated, the entire family lived a life full of tension, dread, and fear. Before long, Janet began hearing disembodied voices calling her name, Jack found himself attacked by a succubus, and the Smurl daughters were assaulted by invisible hands.
The supernatural thriller hasn’t been released on any streaming platforms and the movie hasn’t had a release on any physical media.
Desperate for answers, the Smurls used their contacts with the Catholic Church to get an introduction to Ed and Lorraine Warren. In true Warren fashion, all the stops are pulled out as the power couple discovers that the Smurls home is both haunted by the spirits of long-deceased humans and by an angry demon that wants to destroy the entire family.
The Haunted was based on the book The Haunted: One Family’s Nightmare that the Warrens, the Smurls, and author Robert Curran collaborated on several years before. The television adaptation does well in capturing the major theme of the source material, but doesn’t quite capture the same level of terror of the written word. But for a low-budget small screen movie, The Haunted was certainly one of the most talked about paranormal productions of 1991 and garnered veteran actress Sally Kirkland a Golden Globe Award nomination.
As the minor events the Smurls witnessed in The Haunted escalated, the entire family lived a life full of tension, dread, and fear.
The Haunted could certainly use a big-budget reboot. The chilling events from its source material, whether truth or fantasy, is enough to give fans of supernatural lore a hair-raising ride and could be translated onto the big screen in such ways that the made-for-TV version could not. Bigger budgets, updated special effects, and a plot line that could include more of the taboo material from the book would go a long way in giving the Warren cinematic universe a great capstone.
If remade, The Haunted would get bonus points for appointing Mike Flanagan as director and for bringing back Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson to reprise their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren.
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Finding The Haunted online has proven to be difficult. The supernatural thriller hasn’t been released on any streaming platforms and the movie hasn’t had a release on any physical media. Grainy footage taken presumably from its television airings in 1991 have been uploaded to YouTube, but the low quality does the movie no justice.
If you can find it, The Haunted is definitely worth the watch.
