Final Project Proposal
Samantha Strode
Bugul from Sinister and Diana from Lights Out pray on the vulnerability of Ashley and
Sophie’s young age, manipulating the children’s innocence to remain in existence. In my essay I
will compare the similarities and differences between each demon, and how their manifestation
affected the characters they possess. The first element significant to support this claim is the
historical background of how each demon primarily emerged. With origins dating back to
Babylonian times, Bagul is considered an ancient pagan deity that consumes the souls of
children. He coerces the mind and souls of the young into murdering their families, and
recording the incident. Bagul possesses a realm of his own, and can travel into the mortal world
through images of himself. According to Professor Jonas, the fragments of stories that have
survived all revolve around him needing the souls of innocent of human children to survive.
Bagul preserves the spirit of each consumed child as a way to recruit and influence other
children into committing similar acts. In Lights Out, Diana Walter was taken to a mental hospital
at 13 after she physiologically manipulated her father into killing himself. Here she meets young
Sophie, whose innocence is easily manipulated into believing the two are truly friends. Once
Diana is reduced to ash after a failed experiment, she is able to latch onto Sophie’s vulnerability,
murdering her family members as they attempt to assist. The second element important to
support this claim is the use of the unknown. With each recorded murder comes a sense of
uncertainty, since it is unclear as to who is taping and committing each act. Originally in Lights
Out, the reason behind Diana’s ability to manifest and survive is uncertain. Similar to this,
Baguls influence on the children and his ability to appear in different worlds is left ambiguous
until the end. I will look at specific scenes in both films to compare and contrast both demons,
and their ability to exert influence and power over innocent young spirits.
As a secondary source I will be using the Monstrous Children essay, as well as Here’s
Looking at You. It is important to highlight the themes of most child monsters, as well as
addressing the similar paranormal aspects. The second essay emphasizes how the manipulation
of camera angles can influence the audience and create a visual tale. In Sinister, a majority of
the murder scenes are filmed by the children using hand-held camera. Similarly, because Bagul
enters our world through images of himself, the way the camera captures this created a strong
sense of fear. Because Diana was only seen in the dark, the camera angles exhibiting her
silhouette were important to the understanding and visual component of the film.

Attachments:

• 1493950444-Final Prompt.docx