The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

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Unfortunately, 'Conjuring 3' here finds itself among the weaker titles in the franchise, although personally, I might not think it's as terrible as people suggest. It doesn't lack when it comes to a decent scene or two. But I will say that I think it suffers from a bit of "part-three-ism." Put simply, we've seen this whole song and dance before; it's more of the same, executed a bit differently, and it's once again "based on a true story," which, let's face it, is hard to take seriously at this point in the game.

While the Warren couple make for some pretty cool religious superheroes in these movies, the reality of them is that they were called to take a look at some cases, entirely uninvited for others, and this was all used to push their Catholic agenda on those suffering these unusual circumstances, some of them with real mental health problems, the Warrens would take advantage of. They also often victim-blamed the people involved in these cases. All of this was widely revealed by the time this chapter came around, so that likely detracts from any quality surrounding it as well.

For more information on the story of the real Warrens and their possible connections to cases such as Amityville, the Perron family haunting, the Enfield poltergeist, Annabelle, and the case featured in this film, there are several online references to explore. Meanwhile, in the movie world, admittedly, things are finally starting to feel stale, and many of the scares and suspense that made the first two movies good have become par for the course. The timing in 2021 didn't help much, as we were in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was scarier than any horror movie we could watch at the time.

Taking place in 1981, we once again follow a revamped film version of professional demonologists, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), as they document the exorcism of David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard), an 8-year-old boy who one will probably recognize as young Luke Craine from 'Haunting of Hill House.' I must give full credit to this kid's acting abilities, as he makes his possession look remarkably convincing, and actually provides this movie's highlight. The rest of the film, although okay, doesn't bring anything new and interesting to the table.

The exorcism is held around David's family, including his sister, Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook) and her boyfriend, Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor). During the nightmarish process, Arne tells the demon to spare David and pick him instead. From this, Ed becomes convinced that somewhere within Arne, the demon still lies. One day, Ed and Lorraine find themselves working to clear Arne's name when he commits a murder, apparently without realizing he did it, and this brings us full circle to the title of the film, and the real-life case of Arne Johnson, who was convicted of murder but used possession as a defence in court.

While I can concede that it's recognizably one of the weaker titles of the franchise, I have to admit that I find the idea that someone really tried to use demonic possession as a defence in court fascinating. As I've already mentioned, several articles and documentaries on the subject are available, and they are interesting, but also get to the point of being laughable. There's almost enough there to make for something of an ironic piece of entertainment: a film that takes itself seriously, but the viewer just can't, and thus laughs at all the dumb little details. Unfortunately, though, the film is more easily forgettable, and the first two still stand out.

So, if you like these movies for what they are and can accept them as fictional horror, very loosely based on real events, I could, at best, consider this one passable. However, I must reiterate that this series is full of ups and downs, and this installment finds itself wedged between the poorly executed 'Nun' films (which I consider the worst) and 'Annabelle Comes Home,' which, although not a great movie, is still a good time. But much as it is with any 'Conjuring' movie, whether good or bad, the real-life case is probably worth checking out more.

3/5

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