The third installment of the highly celebrated ‘The Conjuring series’ and the eighth film in the Conjuring Universe horror franchise, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, was set for a September 2020 release, but the COVID-19 pandemic 19 was delayed. until June 2021 when it was released in the US and on HBO Max simultaneously. Sadly, it was unable to re-release in Indian theaters thanks to the pandemic. Since the HBO Max run was so short, Indian fans of the franchise have been wondering where to watch the film, considering how excited and intrigued they were by the haunted house stories of The Conjuring (2013). and The Conjuring-2. (2016) with the beloved real-life couple of paranormal investigators Ed Warren and Lorraine Warren, brilliantly played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in all the films of the trilogy and in one of the Conjuring Universe franchise films. Finally. Amazon Prime Video started streaming this movie on December 15, 2021, and horror ‘fun’ is back with a bang in India.
As usual, the story of this movie is also based on a real life court case in 1981 where the accused murderer, Arne Johnson, pleaded not guilty under the pretense that ‘The devil made him do it’, as He claimed that he was possessed by a demon. while the act is being committed; this type of defense statement is the first time in the history of a court case in the United States. Ed and Lorraine Warren tested Arne because they were convinced of demonic possession and gave all their evidence in terms of captured images and video. However, since such a premise could never have a legal basis, the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 15-20 years in prison; but he got out of jail after five years because of his exemplary behavior and that he married his girlfriend while he was still in jail. Dry court proceedings can never be a fit subject for a horror thriller film and thus an exciting story and screenplay was built around the case.
The movie opens with the scariest scene in the movie and perhaps one of the scariest scenes in horror movie history. The scene depicts the exorcism of a young boy, perhaps about 10 years old, named David Glatzel with the presence of the affected family, Ed and Lorraine and the exorcist. The chaotically horrible events that follow are better watched than explained, with the result that Ed injures himself and suffers a heart attack, while the character of Arne Johnson (played by Ruairi O’Connor), boyfriend of David’s older sister , Debbie Glatzel (played by Sarah Catherine), looks violent David in the eye and invites the demon to leave David and possess him, which, unbelievably, it does. From my experience with horror movies this is a new twist as it raises some questions – it seems to make the role of exorcists quite dubious and that a demon or ghost supposedly possesses someone for a definite purpose and so So why should I leave your place? precious victim! Anyway, this was needed as a prologue for the real-life Arne Johnson to murder someone and face trial.
As compared to the earlier absolutely absorbing and tension-filled two films of the trilogy the third one lacks a flow of storytelling which is hampered by flashbacks, jerk-cuts and scenes left half-treated, jumping to other scenes and then coming back to the To form. This can be interpreted as the director’s stylistic treatment, but it doesn’t help the narrative considering the continued participation of the viewers. For example, Ed Warren, who suffered a heart attack, probably rested for about a month (not clearly stated) during which time the demon in Arne preferred not to do anything heinous. However, just as Ed recovers with a telepathic dream, he contacts Lorraine to warn the police of an impending tragedy at the home of Arne’s employer and landlord. And inevitably, Arne, in a sudden fit of possessiveness, murders the owner and is arrested by the police.
Now comes the true turning point of the story: Lorraine, using her superintuitive and psychic powers, envisions a grim connection between Arne’s act and the murder and suicide of two young girls in recent days. Police had yet to find the body of the second girl who allegedly killed her friend in a similar demonic possession attack and then killed herself. Then, for the first time in the trilogy’s story, the police join the investigations with paranormal help from Ed and Lorraine, eventually finding the second girl’s submerged body as Lorraine guides them through a world of lights and dramatically designed shadows. scene, eminently worth seeing.
With the ‘connection’ confirmed, Lorraine and Ed revisit David’s house, and Lorraine discovers a witch’s totem in the house’s underground chambers, filled with rats. The occult practices angle enters here, again for the first time, and Lorraine, convinced that the connection works both ways and is in the process of completing a curse that involves more murder, begins the search for the source of the evil. if she was an evil spirit or a devilish human being with supernatural powers she should be avoided here, lest he become a saboteur. While the first half of the movie is very engaging and full of tension, the second half becomes quite predictable. The climax, unfortunately, fails to excite viewers.
But the film is worth watching thanks to the intense performances, as usual, from the pair, Wilson and Farmiga, and also the jump scares that come when you don’t expect them and don’t arrive when you expect them, keeping viewers on their toes, in particular a frightening episode. delicious scene of David jumping on a bubbling mattress as if he were full of water and then something unexpected happens to him. The sequel, different from the other two mentioned above, reminds us of a brilliant South Korean horror-mystery-thriller film ‘The Wailing’, which we recently wrote about.
‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ is not directed by James Wan, who created the Conjuring Universe horror franchise with Atomic Monster Productions and Warner Bros Entertainment’s New Line Cinema, completing a 20-year effort led by Tony DeRosa. -Grund. and his team to make a series of films about Ed and Lorraine Warren’s supernatural case files, and directing the first film in the franchise ‘The Conjuring’ in 2013. The huge commercial success of the first venture led to the production of sequels of supernatural horror and prequels one after another: Annabelle in 2014, The Conjuring-2 in 2016, Annabelle Creation in 2017, The Nun in 2018, The Curse of La Llorona in 2019, Annabelle Comes Home in 2019 and The Conjuring: The Devil Made I Do It in 2021; the latter is directed by Michael Chaves, who made his directorial debut with a movie in the franchise, ‘The Curse of La Llorona.’ The Conjuring Universe has become the second highest grossing horror franchise in Hollywood history and one of the most critically acclaimed. Nearly all eight films have been major commercial successes worldwide with positive to mixed reviews. The franchise is currently working on two more horror films: the first will be titled ‘The Crooked Man’ and the title of the second film, which is reported to be a sequel to ‘The Nun’, is yet to be announced.