Eight years ago, director James Wan introduced the world to The Conjuring and the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren. That movie cemented itself as a new classic in horror, which meant only one thing would follow…. sequels. From there, we got the direct sequel, which was still good, but not quite the level of the first. We also got three Annabelle movies and a Nun prequel. While these movies get more and more bonkers, the core of the franchise is still the Warrens and their mission to free souls from possession.
In The Devil Made Me Do It, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) are directly tied to an exorcism that goes awry. A murder follows soon after and the killer claims that he was possessed. It is then up to the Warrens to prove that his testimony is accurate by uncovering a greater mystery.
The movie sells itself as “the demonic case that shocked America.” In truth, very little of the movie is actually about the case and if matters of spirituality can be used in a court of law. In essence, after the arrest, the Warrens do their best to solve the mystery of what kind of evil is behind the possession. A more accurate title than “The Devil Made Me Do It” would have been “The Warren Mysteries.” This feels like a high quality TV spinoff from the Conjuring universe.
The other two main Conjuring movies focus on a small family being haunted in some way, which leaves the Warrens to try and solve their problems. The focus of the movie is always on the relatable family that just wants peace from nightly hauntings. The focus of this movie is Ed and Lorraine. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fantastic characters played very well by the two leads, but they’re far less relevant to the audience and should be used to steal scenes, not be in every scene.
James Wan passed on directing duties for this third outing and gave the reins to Michael Chaves. His previous effort was 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona. That atrocious movie was full of jump scares, fake outs and CG ghosts screaming at the camera. Thankfully, he’s improved somewhat. He attempts to mirror the visual style of Wan to make the movie fit better with the other two. And while there’s a fair amount of noticeable CG, he mixes it with practical effects and makeup.
The big question here is – Is it scary? I’ll remove my desensitized nature, because there’s very little that scares me these days. For the average viewer, it has its moments. There’s plenty of darkness and the things that may lurk there. It deals with satanic rituals and possession, and clearly that’s not for everyone. For some reason, I still get the chills when a possessed person starts twisting their limbs in horrifying ways. This has nowhere near the horror that the first movie in the series has. It’s near the same amount of scares of the Annabelle movies (except Annabelle Creation, because that movie is actually terrifying).
In truth, without the star quality of Farmiga and Wilson, the story doesn’t have enough to go on to make it a memorable horror flick. However, their relationship and the seriousness with which these actors treat the roles, makes the experience above average.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is not a bad movie in any way. It just doesn’t measure up to the precedent of the previous two movies. It is held up by the performances of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, but held back because they are the focal point of the movie, and thus feel invulnerable to any real consequences. It feels like a HBO Max spinoff of the Conjuring universe and one that I’d be happy to watch. It just doesn’t have the fear and lasting effect of the original. C+
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