MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Haunted houses and demonic possessions are some of the scariest phenomena presented in the horror film genre. After all, these involve supernatural things that are perceived to be both unholy and evil. Yet filmmakers keep producing these kinds of films because they have proven time and again to capture the imagination of moviegoers worldwide. It’s no surprise then that the third installment in The Conjuring film series tackles both in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
In 1981, demonologists and paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are called in to investigate the demonic possession of young David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard) in Brookfield, Connecticut. As they attempt to exorcise the demon tormenting David, his sister Debbie’s boyfriend, Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) offers his own body for the demon to possess instead. Ed suffers a heart attack in the middle of the chaos and is left unconscious.
When Ed wakes up, he tells Lorraine that he saw the demon enter Arne and that they need to warn the Glatzels. Arne has been feeling sick since the incident and ends up stabbing his landlord 22 times without his knowledge before being found walking aimlessly with bloodstained clothes. The Warrens consult with Arne’s lawyer before this trial and convince her to plead not guilty on account of demonic possession, hence the film’s unique title.
Finding a witch’s totem underneath the Glatzel home, the Warrens consult with Kastner (John Noble), a former priest who has done extensive research into the occult including the Disciples of the Ram cult. Kastner tells the couple that an occultist deliberately placed the totem and cursed the Glatzel family, causing first David then Arne to be possessed by a demon.
Learning of the death of Katie Lincoln (Andrea Andrade) also by getting stabbed 22 times, the Warrens go to Danvers, Massachusetts to investigate. They find another witch totem there and Lorraine sees a vision of Katie’s best friend, Jessica Strong (Ingrid Bisu) was also possessed to kill Katie. As they get deeper into their investigation, Ed and Lorraine learn how the occultist (Eugenie Bondurant) created the totem but also of a startling secret that led her down this dark path.
The first Conjuring film was released back in 2013 and seemingly started a new wave of interest in horror movies, particularly regarding possessions and exorcism. Though films like The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror were immensely popular in the 1970s and spawned both sequels and copycat films, it took director James Wan and that first Conjuring movie to arguably kickstart it once again.
So popular have these films become that there have been three spinoffs featuring the haunted “Annabelle” doll, The Conjuring 2 also directed by Wan in 2016, as well as spinoff films The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona. Though Wan has already begged off from directing subsequent films in this universe, he still served as producer for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. His vision and directorial style, however, including the jump scares that make those first films so good, were missing in this one.
Michael Chaves took over as director and though there are one or two scenes that can still make you jump, there just aren’t enough to sustain the entire film. Too many parts of this film drag and take away from an overall sense of dread that was ever-present in Wan’s films.
Wilson and Farmiga have now been playing the Warrens for close to a decade and know the characters’ motivations and way of thinking inside and out. Their love for and reliance on one another serves as the backbone of their relationship more than their desire to hunt down demons. The addition of veteran actor Noble lends some gravitas to the movie, particularly when his backstory as a former priest is shared, and although the revelation at the film’s end is surprising, there’s still something lacking.
Bondurant’s occultist character looks creepy with her bony complexion and deep-set eyes and cheekbones, but she’s just not as threatening as the demon Valak had been previously. What the demon does physically to both David and Arne looks and feels twisted, but it feels like territory already previously explored by the aforementioned The Exorcist from 1973. In fact, Chaves does a clear callback to that film here when Fr. Gordon (Steve Coulter) first arrives at the Glatzel home.
Audiences clearly still enjoy watching films in the Conjuring universe but the quality needs to be kept at a high level if they are going to keep coming back for future installments. Sadly, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It pales in comparison to previous adventures featuring the Warrens.
