The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) Warner Bros./Horror-Thriller RT: 112 minutes Rated R (terror, violence, some disturbing images) Director: Michael Chaves Screenplay: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick Music: Joseph Bishara Cinematography: Michael Burgess Release date: June 4, 2021 (US) Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard, John Noble, Eugenie Bondurant, Shannon Kook, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Keith Arthur Bolden, Steve Coulter, Vince Pisani, Ingrid Bisu, Andrea Andrade, Ashley LeConte Campbell, Sterling Jerins, Paul Wilson, Charlene Amoia. Box Office: $65.6M (US)/$206.4M (World)
Rating: ** ½
Three-quels typically disprove the theory about the third time being a charm. There’s a long, long list of disappointing third entries- e.g. Superman III, The Karate Kid Part III, The Godfather Part III, Terminator 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, etc. Now you can add The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It to the list. The first two Conjuring movies are good. Number three falls somewhere between okay and pretty good. It’s entertaining, but falls short of its predecessors by a medium-sized margin.
If I’m being honest, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is less a horror movie than it is an investigative thriller. The screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Aquaman) centers on a real-life murder case in which the defendant pleaded not guilty by reason of demonic possession. It happened in 1981 in Brookfield, CT. It begins with the exorcism of an 8YO boy (Hilliard, WandaVision) at which paranormal investigators Ed (Wilson, Watchmen) and Lorraine Warren (Farmiga, Bates Motel) are present. It’s a rough one, especially for Ed who suffers a massive heart attack. Before he loses consciousness, he witnesses a very Exorcist-like event. Arne Johnson (O’Connor, The Spanish Princess), the kind-hearted boyfriend of the kid’s older sister Debbie (Hook), invites the evil spirit to leave the boy’s body and take over his own instead. It does.
While possessed, Arne murders his landlord (Blevins, Death Wish) by stabbing him 22 times. The Warrens, knowing of Arne’s possessed state, convince his skeptical attorney to plead him not guilty by reason of demonic possession, a first in American legal history. This is where their work begins. They have to find proof of possession. That means proving the existence of evil forces. Their investigation leads them to a former priest (Noble, LOTR 2 & 3) with knowledge of the occult and a similar unsolved murder in a town more than 100 miles away.
Directed by Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It goes off-track more than once with the other murder case and Ed’s post-heart attack health problems. It takes away from the main story which should have remained the focus. When it finally regains its footing, it feels like it’s in a rush to get to the end. Also, the screenplay doesn’t connect all the dots between the two cases. I’m still not entirely clear how they’re connected to each other aside from the same evil spirit. However, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It does have a few decent “BOO!” scenes even though none of them made me jump out of my seat. The first one is a lot more effective in this area.
Despite its flaws, I enjoyed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Sure, it’s shamelessly derivative with its many recognizable nods to The Exorcist, especially the shot of a priest with a suitcase standing by a street light. The scares are mostly predictable and all CGI. It brings nothing new to the genre. HOWEVER, it has great performances by Wilson and Farmiga as the Warrens, real-life paranormal investigators who looked into over 10,000 cases during their career including the infamous Amityville haunting. They are the emotional heart of the film. In one scene, Lorraine tells the story of how she and Ed first met. It’s not superfluous either. As we come to learn, their love is a strength not a weakness in their particular profession. O’Connor is also good as Arne, a good person fallen victim to evil forces beyond his control. Hook, a relative newcomer, has some good scenes as the devoted girlfriend.
To close, I’d just like to say that The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is kind of a silly title. If you’re of a certain age, it evokes comedian Flip Wilson more than it does an uneasy feeling. Maybe they should have went with The Conjuring 3 instead. It’s a simple but effective title.
