Review - the Enfield haunting - Part three

This is part THREE of the series, click here to see part ONE and TWO.

 
Part three marks the final episode in the series which has been documenting (and dramatising) the events that took place in a home in Enfield England during 1977 - 1979.

The haunting of Janet Hodgson began one night when knocking was heard on the walls of her bedroom, This quickly escalated to furniture moving and later voices coming from Janet herself. It was a widely publicised case at the time, and is still hotly contended among the parapsychology circles as to whether it was a genuine case of a poltergeist haunting or not.

We have seen as this case wore on how splintered the relationships became for Maurice and his wife, Janet and Maurice and the rest of the family. This episode deals with the relationships and gets to the heart of the haunting itself,  not before things escalate for Janet to the point of being hospitalised.
This occurs when she encounters a small light in her room that burns her upon touching it; she describes it as being 'like Tinkerbell'. Unfortunately the  head of the SPR (society for parapsychological research) is not convinced, which prompts Janet to tell the media that the whole thing was a hoax. However, Janet and sister Margret turn up to Maurice's house to beg him to come back, saying that they only went to the papers to get him and Guy back into the house.

Re-entering the home, Guy and Maurice decide to perform a 'disposession' on Janet, using the entity Joe's ashes in the ritual. Janet is tied to a chair as Guy begins. Instantly Joe comes through the little girl and causes her to shake violently and spit obscenities in his raspy voice. Not long after, the voices address Maurice in the guise of his own daughter Janet, who has passed; she tells him she doesn't forgive him. Then Joe's ashes fly across the room.
As the activity stops afterwards, it is believed that this is the end of the ordeal. Guy and Maurice decide it's time to leave the house, which Janet takes badly.

Being told to dispose of Joe's remaining ashes by his wife, Maurice takes them to a football field at night and spreads them on the ground. At that moment Janet is woken in her house and discovers her goldfish is dead. The family gets up for some hot cocoa and the doorbell rings, Janet goes to check and gets locked out of the house. She enters the backyard and sees herself sitting at the kitchen table with her family. The Janet inside begins to channel different voices and then shakes violently.

Home life for Maurice and his wife takes a turn for the worst when he races off to the hospital. Janet has been taken in after breaking her thumb in the last violent attack. Whilst strapped to the bed, she is burnt by the 'Tinkerbell' and then medicated heavily. When the doctors want to perform an ECT on her, Janet's mother calls it off by telling them that the whole thing was a joke that had gone too far, to the protestations of both Maurice and Guy.
However it is clear when they return home that things are getting worse - an incident in the bathroom has Janet cowering from flying tiles.

It dawns on Maurice that both he and Janet are both frustrated at events, so he takes her for a drive to the local air strip and encourages her to scream out her anger. They both scream: he for his daughter, she for her father abandoning her. Janet unlocks the puzzle while they are visiting Maurice's daughter in the graveyard. When she enters the house she seeks out Guy to let him know that Maurice is the one keeping the poltergeist here.

The original medium is reluctantly called back in and gets straight to work. Many voices  begin to emanate from both her and Janet simultaneously, then Maurice gets the contact he wants. His daughter comes through and through conversation they get the closure they both need, She passes over and takes the rest of the spirits with her,

This episode dealt with Maurice and his daughter, but didn't really approach why it began in the first place. In the end it was more about Maurice than it was about Janet and although that tied this story up nicely, did not parallel what happened to the real Janet afterwards. Also, in real events, Janet and her sister were caught faking evidence on a number of occasions and this too was not covered in the story. The makers of the Enfield haunting can perhaps be forgiven though as although the show was covering the poltergeist activity, it understudied human relationships and grief. Perhaps the reality of the activity was slightly irrelevant in the end, and by not studying the grey areas of believability allowed the story to unfold as it did. A very interesting watch and a delve into the world of the psyche.   

Review - The Enfield Haunting - part 2

This is a review of part TWO of the series, if you wish to read part ONE first, click here.

Focusing heavily on the relationship between Maurice and Janet, this episode reveals the wound that still exists over his own daughter's death both in himself, and his wife.

1977, In an unassuming council flat, Enfield London. Strange things have been occurring to a family who have become terrified and tortured by an unseen force. Janet, the youngest daughter, has been at the center of the happenings which are about to get much worse.

After being thrown to the ceiling by the entity, Guy is ready to admit the activity is real and calls Maurice back to the house. But when Janet presents with a bloody eye and the video feed cuts out as she is attacked, she is shipped off to stay with relatives. But it is at this time, Maurice tries a ritual in the girl's room, when Janet experiences activity  in the form of objects stacking and seeing an old man in the bathroom mirror, causing her to smash it accidentally. Clearly she is not believed and promptly sent back home. Janet shows her contempt towards Maurice for the first time for sending her away.

A medium is bought in on the advice of Guy to speak to the poltergeist and the small framed woman who sits on a chair in the lounge quickly taps into the entity, In a raspy voice she reveals a sexual assault episode which is pretty disturbing and a few different voices come through. It speaks directly to Janet before ending the session. Afterwards, she warns both Guy and Maurice that they should by no means attempt to communicate with the spirit in the house and that it is a 'house of death' for Maurice particularly.

Upon returning home, Maurice discovers his wife with another man; it turns out she hasn't been having an affair as suspected, but is instead, consulting a psychic. Maurice shows his disgust at this 'charlatan' preying on a grieving mother and sends him packing when he discovers his wife has been giving him objects that belonged to their daughter as payment. It is just as he leaves that Guy turns up. Over dinner they discuss potentially communicating with the entity.

Not long after, a knocking is persisting in the house when the family is gathered in the lounge during the day. This is the opportunity that Guy and Maurice have been waiting for and promptly ask it to 'knock once for no and twice for yes'. It is after Maurice is thrown from a chair that things ramp up and he demands that it speaks. Very quickly the raspy voice begins to emit from Janet and tells him in foul language that he is named 'Joe'.
It is apparently the opening the entity was waiting for, as at every opportunity now Janet rasps obscenities at everyone she can, even Maurice's wife when she unexpectedly turns up to visit. Of course, a Joe did indeed live and die in the house, adding intrigue and validity to the story.

There is a cruel moment when Janet calls Maurice's wife from a payphone and claims to be her dead daughter. This is Janet lashing out at Maurice for producing this new phenomenon but Maurice is determined to use this new addition to get the heads of the SPR involved. But when nothing is witnessed, frustration takes hold and Maurice forces Janet to take a drink and tapes her mouth shut. The voice of Joe comes forth and everyone can not help but be convinced. Of course, this incenses Janet who runs away from home during the night.

Maurice goes to retrieve Janet from her father's house, where Joe has given the new girlfriend a mouthful. He gives her a ring that belonged to his daughter and smooths things out. But they arrive back at the house only to find that he and Guy are barred from entering as the SPR has taken over the case.

The final scene is of Janet and Margret talking in the backyard. Janet declares that the voice is not so bad, because it means at least the poltergeist needs her and doesn't want to destroy her.
That's when Joe's voice comes from Margret "Is that right? I don't need anyone!"
Insects begin to swarm over Janet.

Although all these things have been well documented as happening in the home and to the family, there are a few moments that we can look at and go 'hmmmm' to. A specialist was indeed called in to inspect Janet's throat and proclaimed that there was no way that she could keep up that voice without destroying her own. However, this has been contended over the years and it is unsure if the young girl just took the suggestion from Maurice to speak and used it as a vent for her frustration at the events.
The show has dramatised these moments, although apparently she did produce the voice when her mouth was full of water. There really was an old man named Joe who died in the house also.
But my understanding of Poltergeist was that it was telekinetic energy from a person, so the use of poltergeist is strange in this context, although I suppose in a perfect storm the haunting could have opened up the abilities in Janet.
The conclusion is next week, so reserving judgement on the wrap up until then. Still a great production and a very moody watch.

Review - The Enfield Haunting - part 1

Based on a true story. The Enfield Haunting portrays the 'true' events that occurred in 1977 - 1979 in an unassuming home in Enfield, North London.

Also known as the Enfield Poltergeist, it was widely publicized by newspapers and media at the time and investigated by Maurice  Gross (Timothy Spall)and Guy Lyon Playfair (Matthew Macfadyen) of the society for psychical research (SPR) as well as other researchers periodically, including the famed Ed Warren.

Hotly debated both then and now over the truth of the claims, Maurice Gross  asserts that much of the phenomena was indeed real.
However the activity, which revolved around a young girl Janet, was caught out on a few occasions faking incidents and seemed to enjoy the media attention.

The show does a great job at treading the line of portraying a clever, pre-pubescent girl who at times is in charge of her world and at others genuinely scared. According to theory, this is a prime environment for a poltergeist; the stress, frustration and sexual tension experienced by the youth (female especially) in some cases so extreme as to form physical or telekinetic activity.

The Enfield poltergeist however, may take some liberties with the original case study, such as showing an old man to be haunting the young girl, and the special connection formed between Maurice and Janet, which may be construed to muddy the facts of the activity.

This first episode deals with the set up of the family situation, single mother Peggy, daughters Janet (11) and Margret (13), sons Johnny (10) and Billy (7). We sense the tension in the mother having to raise the four children on her own after the father left (abandoned) and with Johnny having to go away to school due to 'behavioral issues'. Family life is strained, money is scarce and Janet even shares a bath with a slug in one scene.

After the girls experience some knocking sounds in their room, mother Peggy and brother Billy arrive in time to see a chest of drawers slide towards them on its own.
Just after this Maurice arrives at the home after being contacted by the SPR. He is met by two newspaper men who claim to have caught pictures of objects flying across the room. They tell Maurice that a police woman came to see what the disturbance was and witnessed a chair moving on its own; she left without further ado [Short of arresting the chair for being an unlicensed vehicle I guess there's not much they can do about poltergeists].

It's not long before the first newspaper article comes out and we witness Janet being bullied at school over it, and yet another stress we are privy to in her life; her older sister watches but does nothing to help.
The article draws attention to the family and very soon the SPR sends along Guy Lyon Playfair to help downplay the events occurring in the home lest it bring the society into disrepute. Janet takes an instant disliking to him.

We witness through the episode some of the events that are documented: marbles flying across the lounge, a teapot smashing on the floor and to finish off - Janet being tangled up in her drapes by the neck. The episode ends when Guy Lyon rushes into the room to untangle her and is thrown up to the ceiling.

Although I'm glad that this story has been made into a new production for us to watch, I am wary that for the want of drama and interest things will be (and have been) added in for pure effect. Such as the inclusion of the 'Old Man' that Janet fears she bought home from the cemetery and the addition of Maurice's wife having an affair (to what end this aids the plot we are yet to discover). For the most part it is covering the events in succession, but I'm sure as the parts progress we will get a bit wild with the truth.
The real truth however, is still yet to be discovered, I just hope they leave it open ended enough to satisfy the appetites of believers and skeptics alike.  

For an account of the REAL STORY click here