The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

If this third entry in the main franchise of The Conjuring (not counting the spinoffs its inspired) is not quite as strong as the previous two films, that's probably because the previous head of the series, James Wan, took a back seat this time around, and serves as a producer.  Stepping into the director's chair is Michael Chaves (The Curse of la Llorona), who understands Wan's love for atmosphere and recreating a time period, but also steps up the violence and the shock imagery.  

Luckily, he also understands what made the earlier movies work so well, which is the central relationship at the middle of all the spooky goings-on between real-life paranormal investigator couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren (once again played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga).  Like before, The Devil Made Me Do It is loosely based on one of their famous plunges into the world of the supernatural, this time built around the 1981 murder trial of Arne Johnson, who claimed that he was not guilty of murder by reason of demonic possession.  Using this real-life situation, the movie plunges into some pretty unbelievable territory where the Warrens are pulled into a world of evil, crawlspaces crawling with rats, and demonic entities roaming about the local morgue.  I may not believe that most of the stuff this movie is trying to pass off really happened, but I believed in the performances of Wilson and Farmiga, and their love for each other, which has always been at the heart of these movies.  

Just like in the actual court case, Arne (played here by Ruairi O'Connor) cannot deny that he murdered his landlord (Ronnie Gene Blevins).  He was even found wandering the road alone, his clothes and hands covered in the blood of his victim.  However, he claims that he was under the control of a demonic entity at the time.  The Warrens are quick to believe him.  In an opening prologue, we witness the Warrens helping to perform an exorcism of an eight-year-old boy (Julian Hilliard) in which Arne was present.  At some point, when the boy was under full control of the demon tormenting him and his family, Arne grabs the child and speaks directly to the demon, saying "take me instead".  Whatever evil force is at work decides to do just that, and now Arne is the one being targeted.

Ed Warren tells a lawyer at one point, "The Court accepts the existence of God every time a witness swears to tell the truth.  I think it’s about time they accept the existence of the devil".  Easier said than done.  In order to prove that Arne's claims are true, the couple will have to dig deeper into the underworld than they ever have, eventually uncovering a secret Satanic cult that is represented by a ghostly woman in black (Eugenie Bondurant) who keeps on appearing in Lorraine's psychic visions, and eventually starts appearing before Ed as well.  As they search for clues behind the cult, dark secrets come to light, complete with creepy demonic totems that may have a connection to a completely different unsolved murder case.  

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ups the ante when it comes to the blood, on-screen violence, and the disturbing images.  While the other films in the franchise were rated-R as well, they were more about creating suspense in a slow-burn kind of way, and focusing on the atmosphere for its frights.  This time, pretty much as soon as the studio logos fade, we are smacked in the face with some pretty graphic depictions of unholy evil, and the movie only builds from there.  The movie is definitely intense, I can't fault it for that.  But, it also makes the film feel a little different from the earlier entries.  There's a bigger draw on shocks, jump scares, creepy hands almost dragging the heroine off the side of a cliff, bloated corpses coming to life, and grisly murder scenes.  It doesn't quite feel like a betrayal of what came before, but it does feel like Chaves is trying to put his own spin on things by upping the violence and carnage.  Again, it works, and he's quite skilled at it.  But there were moments when I missed Wan's slightly more atmospheric approach.

Still, the fundamental strength of these films is in tact, and that is Wilson and Farmiga.  They are as charismatic and strong as ever as the Warrens, and this time, Lorraine gets to be a bit of a bad-ass, venturing head-first into places and areas most people probably wouldn't dare.  If the real-life Lorraine Warren was anything like the way she is depicted here, then I have to say that she had to put up with some pretty harsh visions and experiences.  The movie gets a lot of mileage out of the love these characters share for each other, and how audiences have fallen in love with them through these movies, and it is smart to once again use that as the central focus.  Ed suffers a heart attack early in the film, and not only does he just keep on diving into the paranormal as soon as he's out of the hospital, but Lorraine is right there every step of the way.

It's this strong character angle that has always set The Conjuring series apart from most horror franchises, and I'm glad to see it continue.  Combined with some genuine thrills (and more than a few cheap ones), it makes this one worth watching.  Besides, even if it's not quite up to the high standards as before, it's still better than 90% of the other mainstream horror films we get every year.

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