[Movie Review] ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it’ blends action and horror

A possession in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
A possession in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Rating: NC16

Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Running time: 112 minutes

Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Director: Michael Chaves

Ruairi O'Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Ruairi O’Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Writers: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, James Wan (story credits)

Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Cast: Patrick Wilson (Ed Warren), Vera Farmiga (Lorraine Warren), Ruairi O’Connor (Arne Cheyenne Johnson), Sarah Catherine Hook (Debbie Glatzel), Julian Hilliard (David Glatzel), John Noble (Father Kastner), Eugenie Bondurant (Isla the Occultist).

Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Secret ending? Sort of.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Score: 3.9/5

Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

If the pandemic hasn’t terrified you with the shenanigans of anti-vaxxers and the unmasked, then The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will. The franchise delves into action movie territory, more so than previous instalments, as it sees demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren going up against a demented witch — whose origins may lie much closer to them than they might have expected.

Ruairi O'Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Ruairi O’Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a supernatural horror film that’s the eighth instalment in The Conjuring franchise. It serves as a sequel to The Conjuring 2 and is based on the 1981 murder trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, where he pleaded not guilty on account of demonic possession when he committed the murder.  It sees the Warrens facing their greatest threat yet, as they investigate a haunting. But there’s more than meets the eye as victims change and the perpetrator is not who it seems to be…

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

I have to confess that I nearly couldn’t sit through the film right after I started to watch it — because it was that scary. Yes, there are jump scares (don’t all horror films have them) but it was the lingering tension, those slow close-ups where you know something is going to jump out at you (or will it?), and the knowledge that something is out there that made the first part so unbearable. As someone who watches horror movies on a regular basis, I have to say that the first Act absolutely terrified me. What made it worse was seeing a child getting possessed — children are definitely the creepiest type of possessions to watch. But I survived.

Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

The film also makes references to previous movies, not just visually, but with verbal references as well. I like how the Warrens are effectively superhero ghostbusters, with many accolades (okay, those are rather gruesome artifacts rather than accolades, but you know what I mean) to their name. It’s not they’re unstoppable, as the film shows. It’s more that they’ve really got a long history of defeating supernatural terrors, since The Conjuring universe is now eight films strong.

Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

While the first Act felt terrifying, the third Act felt more like an action film. Of course, this is the part where the Warrens discover and go after the main antagonist of the film. They’re subject to all sorts of attacks by the villain, like hulking reanimated zombies and nefarious illusions. It felt a little different from other The Conjuring films, and feels like a new direction for the franchise.

A haunting in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
A haunting in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

However, the heart attack subplot with Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) felt out of place — it’s not as if he was particularly weakened by it, even though the film does make an effort to show its effects on him. Then there’s another odd subplot regarding the origin story of Ed and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga)… which is also a little strange, given that it’s the eighth film. That detracted from the main storyline a bit too much, which dampened some of the scares.

Eugenie Bondurant as Isla the Occultist in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Eugenie Bondurant as Isla the Occultist in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

In addition, that also bloated the running time a little — for a horror movie, it’s 1 hour 52 minute length was surprising. Perhaps trimming the other subplots and focusing on the scares would have elevated its fear factor, and it’s not like the movie would have lost anything major in the process.

Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is absolutely terrifying at the beginning, even as it morphs into an action film by the end. It also added some superfluous storylines that could have been removed to enhance its terrifying elements. Be sure to stay back during the credits for some interesting snippets about the court case that inspired this movie.

Ruairi O'Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Ruairi O’Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is out in cinemas:
– 11 June 2021 (Singapore)
– 1 July 2021 (Malaysia)

Eugenie Bondurant as Isla the Occultist in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
Eugenie Bondurant as Isla the Occultist in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

Read these other reviews of movies in The Conjuring film franchise

A possession in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)
A possession in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. (Still: Warner Bros Pictures)

 


This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com.


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I’m an independent scriptwriter who’s written for popular shows like Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site

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