The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
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Kategori : 2021 based on a true story Horror John Noble Patrick Wilson review sequel The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Vera Farmiga Stream thousands of movies and TV shows free INCINEMAX

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Did the Devil make you phone in this sequel?

The Conjuring:  The Devil Made Me Do It – 3 out of 5

The first two Conjuring films are absolutely fantastic!  James Wan made some horror films that are just rich in scares and thick with a terrifying atmosphere.  Not to mention that the natural and charming chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga helped keep the films feel grounded and human.  They were utter wins in my book.  Sure, I have my personal feelings about the “based on a true story” bullshit that plagues the world of horror and how that often feels like apologist nonsense when it concerns the Warrens in this series, but I can’t deny that they are scary as hell!  Needless to say, I was pretty much all-in for a third film (especially one that centers on the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson).  Sadly, I walked away from The Conjuring:  The Devil Made Me Do It a little disappointed and found a movie that felt like a phoned-in sequel at best and a flickering glimmer of what came before at worst.

Their chemistry in this series has been so good that they really feel
like a married and in love couple.

"Look, the devil is making him do it!"

In 1981 in the town of Brookfield, Connecticut, Ed (Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Farmiga) perform an exorcism on an 8-year old boy named David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard).  As the procedure takes place, the boyfriend of David’s sister; Arne (Ruairi O’Connor), commands the demon to spare the boy and enter him, this is witnessed by Ed.  Afterwards, Arne starts to see frightening things and ends up killing his landlord.  The Warrens argue that the demon is what caused him to kill and they decide to investigate how the demon came into these folks’ lives in the first place.  Pretty soon they learn that an occultist (Eugenie Bondurant) has cursed the family.  Now, with the help of a retired priest (John Noble), the Warrens set out to stop the occultist from claiming Arne’s life and sacrificing the man to Satan.

Don't worry, kids, the Devil made him make strawberry jam and it
got everywhere.

I feel like "based on a true story" should always
be in quotes for these types of movies.

The last two Conjuring films, like so many horror features of this ilk, plays fast and loose with what constitutes “based on a true story.”  In a similar way with ghost hunters and what passes as evidence, these movies aren’t so much concerned with accuracy as they are with results—and that is actually okay.  I want to be scared with horror films.  A ghost hunter saying they have a feeling that there is a presence nearby isn’t exactly terrifying.  So, while this “based on a true story” nonsense is a little eye-rolling, I do cut it some slack (to a degree).  The Devil Made Me Do It, however, is a little more egregious.  The Arne Cheyenne case isn’t really that spectacular and the evidence the Warrens had was just a recording of an exorcism (which is questionable as hell) and…well…honestly, that’s about it.  But ghost hunters are gonna grift, so they said Arne was possessed by the devil and never gave a second thought to the potential idea that he might be mentally ill.  (Alternate possibilities aren’t really a consideration with ghost hunters)  So, with that knowledge, there really isn’t a lot of meat to make a meal out of with this story.  So, the writers literally made up everything but the smallest facts and the entire middle section of the film is just complete fiction.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in theory because if the things are scary then it accomplished what it set out to do but, instead, what follows is a film that never truly feels like the other two and one that feels like it is just farting out mild scares like they are farting out a cliché Satanic Panic storyline.  However, at its worst, the movie barely feels like it is even about Arne and his possession. 

"I mean, technically I'm a character in this movie..."

This one almost makes Lorraine a magic
user.  It felt more aloof than how her 
"abilities" were utilized in the previous
features.

This entry into the Conjuringverse was not directed by James Wan but, instead, by the man who directed another feature in this horror cinematic universe; Michael Chaves.  I won’t call Chaves a bad director, but his style is quite different.  Wan has this near mastery of crafting atmosphere that feels so utterly foreboding and like terror likes within every shadow and around every corner.  This film lacked that.  I already mentioned how the scares are weak-sauce, but matters aren’t assisted by the complete lack of a horror atmosphere.  In fact, the feature has a very sterile approach to its terror, and this not only makes the scares feel cheap, but it also gives the entire feature a feeling like it is just a half-assed sequel that was produced only for some quick money.  When you factor in a story that is barely making use of its “true elements” and the fact that the relationship between the Warrens doesn’t feel as strong or as emotional as the previous two, it left me with a feeling that this movie is completely hollow and vacuous.

Okay, that is kinda creepy.

The performances in the film are…fine.  No one is really bad but, like the story, the atmosphere, and the scares, it just feels serviceable.  The chemistry between Wilson and Farmiga feels adequate but never authentic, John Noble looks like he is giving only a fraction of what we know he is capable of, and the rest of the cast almost look like they are just going through the motions.

"Please excuse me.  I have a meeting to get to.  One where a hobbit sings
to me while I disgustingly eat tomatoes."

The Conjuring:  The Devil Made Me Do It isn’t an overtly bad sequel, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it has the drive and desire to be anything more than something passable.  With a story that feels like it is pushing the limits of what can realistically be stated as “based on a true story,” a complete lack of atmosphere and tension, and scares that are mediocre at best, the entire product feels more like it is just doing the bare minimum in order to build this horror franchise than it is about crafting a terrifying feature.