The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It — Movie Review
by KJ Proulx
Back when The Conjuring hit the big screen in 2013, I thought James Wan directed one of the better mainstream horror films in years. I then thought that The Conjuring 2 was possibly even superior, so naturally, I was excited about a third instalment. Now available in theatres and at home, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is an average film overall, with some very solid moments. Something just felt off about it. Easily the weakest of the trilogy, here’s why I think you can skip this one.
The film opens with a scene that could’ve easily been the climax of one of the other films. I was shocked to see it start so quickly. It opens with David, a possessed little boy, as Ed and Lorraine Warren are once again investigating a possible curse. Arne, David’s older brother, wishes the curse to take him over instead. Fully listening to that request, the demon latches itself onto Arne and makes things much worse. Ed in recovery after this incident, Lorraine becomes more of the focal point of the story here. If it wasn’t for their presence, this film would’ve felt like just another average possession story.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson have always been the best part of all three of these films, but there was a great story to back them up as well. This time around, too many little details were happening during this case. This in turn made the film feel a little jumbled to me. It never felt like it was going anywhere until the end. This may have been one of their biggest cases in reality, but I don’t think it worked as a movie all that well. That’s not to say it’s a bad film, it’s just that it lacked the look and feel of the previous two.
James Wan did a fantastic job directing the first two films and while I believe that Michael Chaves did a solid job here, especially with a few very well-done scenes in the forest and hallways, it just felt like it had a completely different feel. On top of that, writer David Leslie Johnson has also been hit-or-miss for me throughout his career. I really believe it comes down to who he works with on each project. Other than The Conjuring 2 and Aquaman, I haven’t liked any of his previous screenplays. I think he’s a very talented writer, given the right support.
Overall, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It suffers from a look and tone that doesn’t feel as authentic as the last two films. Ed and Lorraine are both great again here and they share some terrific scenes together, but again, I didn’t care too much because the story happening around them wasn’t all that compelling. There was too much trying to be said here and I think feel that the film suffers as a result. If you’re a massive fan of this franchise (even the spin-offs like The Nun or Annabelle) then you might get a kick out of this one too, but I just thought this film was a huge step down in comparison. On its own, it's a fine horror flick, but that’s not the standard that the last two set. I’ll give the movie a pass for having some impressive scenes, but the overall movie is very, very average.
Rating: 3/5
Check out the trailer below:
