THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Conjuring has lived to be an iconic horror franchise because after James Wan's first two films revolving around Ed and Lorraine Warren, we got hit or miss spinoffs of their infamous foes. Whether or not you liked those, everyone knew that the main stories involving the famous demonologist couple was where the heart was. Five long years after their second case in 2016, the wait ended. PLOT
The third film dubbed The Devil Made Me Do It takes place in 1981 and opens up showing the Warrens documenting the exorcism of eight year old David Glatzel in Brookfield, Connecticut. As Father Gordon (Steve Coulter) performs the exorcism, he and Ed get injured. Arne Johnson, boyfriend to David's sister Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook), makes the sacrifice by inviting the demon to enter his body, saving the boy in the process. Ed notices the deal before suffering a heart attack. When he wakes up in a hospital, he alerts his wife what he saw only to discover that a now possessed Arne murdered his landlord Bruno Sauls (Ronnie Gene Blevins). They choose to support his innocence, which creates the first American murder trial to claim demonic possession as defense. This results to them investigating their case with David. At the Glatzels' house, they find a totem that can curse others under the doing of a devil worshipper for the sake of a sacrifice to Satan himself. When meeting Father Kastner (John Noble), a former priest, he shares that an occultist had to have left it to summon the curse. The next day, the Warrens go to Danvers, Massachusetts to investigate another murder case that'll backup Arne's defense. With her abilities as a clairvoyant, Lorraine discovers that Katie Lincoln (Andrea Andrade) was stabbed to death by her best friend Jessica Strong (Ingrid Bisu) because she was also possessed, later falling off a cliff to her death. When Jessica's body is recovered, she makes contact with the occultist and stops her from making Arne kill himself. When returning home in Connecticut, their assistant Drew shares his research that the curse can be stopped if the altar of the occultist is destroyed. After Ed is put through a trance, they realize that the occultist has to be doing her work underground. When Lorraine visits Father Kastner, he shares that the occultist is his daughter Isla, who became a Satanist when her fascination over Disciples of the Ram cult became an obsession. When he gives her access to her tunnels, Isla appears and kills him. When Ed gets there to save his wife, he also gets possessed by the occultist. He ends up chasing the love of his life but Lorraine uses her abilities to bring him back. When he regains his consciousness, he destroys the altar which frees Arne in time before he almost takes his life again. Because Isla failed to complete her sacrifice, she is killed by the demon she summoned. As Ed places the cup from the altar in his museum of artifacts, the film ends with the epilogue that Arne would do five years in prison for manslaughter, later marrying Debbie.
THOUGHTS
I really wanted to check this out in theaters but because I didn't have enough time on my plate, I caved and saw this on (HBO)Max during the month gap it was first released. I have to admit that it was worth it because it would've made me disappointed if checking it out in the big screen. Even with low expectations, I wasn't completely satisfied with what was given. I respect Michael Chaves' direction by going outside the aspect of a haunted house and lean into aspects of a courtroom drama. Since this was an actual case, it's upsetting how it doesn't feel special to witness, just okay. That does come off as a good concept but the execution doesn't go down right. While frightening scenes like the waterbed or the opening exorcism hit the mark, a lot of stuff just don't. And there were way too many things that bothered me and I wish were done differently. The nods to better horror movies were so obvious that I rolled my eyes. For example, Father Gordon looking at the house was a nod to The Exorcist and Ed limping with a sledgehammer was a nod to The Shining. I'd rather see those classics instead of this. Speaking of Father Gordon, it should've been a bad sign that things would get worse when he showed up because the Warrens do fine without him and it's dumb how Ed still was never approved to perform exorcisms. And why didn't they just take David to church when Gordon approved of the exorcism? It would've been smoother if they did that instead of doing it at home. I want to respect Arne for his sacrifice to save David but that makes his later actions his fault in the long run. Had he let the priest do his thing, he wouldn't be in jail for manslaughter. It was even dumb of him to not call the Warrens immediately. And why didn't Lorraine sense the demon inside David before she left? Demons can be dormant, but it was a recent switch so she should've picked up something. It is even a waste of time for her to tell an officer of her vision when she could've just said something is already happening. Also, how did the Warrens not find the totem until Arne's case? They are supposed to be professionals and it is ridiculous for them to miss something like that. Lorraine even annoyed me some more when telling Kastner to burn his artifacts. She's got her own that includes Annabelle, so she should've just told him to get some holy water. I know we're supposed to see her as a badass because of her abilities, but her figuring out which knife killed Katie Lincoln is misused because she likely saw the date on the tags. The detective could've removed the tags before testing her and the scene would've been more believable. I was creeped out when the demon interrupted Ed's call to Debbie, but why didn't it do the same thing when the Glatzels called the Warrens around the time David got possessed? Had it done that, the task would've been over before there was ever a chance for the protagonists. It was a surprise that the Occultist placed the totem in the Warrens' home by hiding it in a vase, but did she make that vase? She does have the time to make the totems, but did she put in the effort for a vase? I mean if so, than that is commitment to the task. Lastly, I am cringing when the priest from the institution ignores the flickering of the lights, not considering that the demon is making a move. That is the worst movie priest I've ever seen. He's worse than Father Gordon and he doesn't do jack shit until this movie. All of this stuff is so out of place that if they split this arc into multiple arcs in order to for everything to get fleshed out properly. It sounds excessive at this point into the franchise but it'd definitely be better than this. At this point, it's not really surprising that the best thing about this movie is gonna be the acting. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga remain to be the best duo in horror film history as the Warrens. Wilson put his range by putting aside Ed's normal warm demeanor to become the final possessed victim that goes berserk. That caught me off guard big time because they always felt unstoppable in the past, making this a moment that says otherwise. Farmiga still displays Lorraine's sensibility, but seeing her bring the warmth to Ed that brings him back was truly more heartwarming than you think. That scene works because their love shows to be more powerful than a curse. I don't want to overrate Eugenie Bondurant but in her given time, she pulled off making Isla the Occultist as intimidating as she's supposed to be because of how remorseless her religion made her. Seeing a human perpetrate evil was the best set of fresh air we got in this film because it's not always those from hell that start chaos above. I also got to give shoutouts to both Ruairi O'Connor and Julian Hilliard in their respected roles of Arne and David. Their perspectives on going from innocent souls to psychotic demons were perfectly balanced in each respected screen time. Every time the demon took over, you just start praying for their nightmare to be over. To wrap up, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a decent horror film that could've been done better if the studios waited for Wan. If you are still deeply invested with this franchise, check this one out.
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