The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O'Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard, John Noble, Eugenie Rondurant, Shannon Kook, Ronnie Gene Glevins, Steve Coulter, Vince Pisani
Directed by: Michael Chaves
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) get involved in a murder investigation that they believe was directly caused by demonic possession.

Review:

Tim: The Conjuring is still one of the most effective horror movies in recent years. The Conjuring 2 wasn't as good, but still a thoroughly enjoyable film. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is already a bit annoying for abandoning the numerical progression for a subtitle, but it's still a solid horror film. There's no doubt this is the weakest film in the trilogy, but it's still better than the majority of horror movies out there. It makes you feel a bit torn. In the genre, this is a success, but compared to the first two, it's clearly less effective.

Ed and Lorraine Warren are controversial people, but they make for outstanding horror heroes. I love their partnership as depicted in these movies. I was definitely up to see them here again. I enjoyed their small roles in Annabelle Comes Home, but I was ready for them to be the protagonists again. It's always entertaining watching these two characters battle the supernatural and that was true again in this third film. We understand the formula at this point, but it doesn't mean it's ineffective. It works and I had fun watching this story unfold.

The story here is fairly decent. It's taken from one of the Warrens' most notorious cases. It was interesting for me to learn about the Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. It's hard to believe this case actually took place and not that long ago- 1981. It's controversial to say the least. It was a bit disappointing that the movie didn't focus too much on the trial. That could have made an outstanding movie, in the vein of the excellent The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The story the movie tells instead is much less interesting. Now, there are some benefits to doing it this way- we can continue on, pretending Ed and Lorraine are the heroes, without getting into too much detail about the Demon Murder trial and the role the Warrens played. This might have been the safer approach, but it certainly wasn't the most effective. Still, recognizing that this film is completely fiction, it was entertaining to watch the Warrens pitted against a nefarious Occultist. I had a good time watching them attempting to uncover the mystery in this race against time. The story wasn't great, but it was entertaining enough.

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson remain the best thing about these movies. Their portrayal of Ed and Lorraine just works and their comfort level together is a big boost to the characters. This is the fourth time they've portrayed them and know the ins and outs of these characters. I loved seeing John Noble here- he instantly makes any movie better. Eugenie Bondurant was creepy as the Occultist. The rest of the cast was fine, but mostly unremarkable. No one really emerged as a star. The movie didn't really need that, though. We get a lot of time with Farmiga and Wilson and that's good enough.

One aspect of the movie I enjoyed was the health issues of Ed Warren. This certainly ramped up the intensity of the movie, putting the strongest character in peril. It forced Lorraine to take a more active role and it gave the movie a nice differentiator from the other films in the series. The visual effects were good- the movie was creepy. That being said, this was easily the least frightening movie in the series. The loss of director James Wan was a big hit to the franchise. Michael Chaves does a fairly good job replacing him, but contributes to this being the least effective film in the trilogy. I will say that this movie is significantly better than Chaves' first Conjuring Universe film, The Curse of La Llorona. That was your typically bad horror movie and this one was much better.

I should stress that I did enjoy The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. It's not close to the first two films, but better than most horror movies. That means this trilogy of films is one of the best in the genre. It's pretty rare to find three horror movies all good (the first one is still the only great one). The larger Conjuring Universe has a lot of disappointing movies, but this trilogy stands apart. While a good movie, this film does represent yet another downward trend. If they continue to make these movies, you sincerely hope the trend reverses soon.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, The Curse of La Llorona, Annabelle Comes Home