The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Whenever i hear about paranormal mysteries, i especially think about two people, and that is of course legendary couple Ed and Lorraine Warren, the most well known paranormal investigators in this world. Eward Warren Miney was a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, author and lecturer. Lorraine Rita Warren professed to be clairvoyant and a light trance medium. They claimed to have investigated well over 10.000 cases during their career. The first time that i remember hearing about Ed and Lorraine Warren was back in the 80´s, after reading a book that my father owned about paranormal events. In this book there was a chapter that focused on Ed and Lorraine Warren who investigated the paranormal mystery about the Amityville Haunting. If you have not heard about this case, let me tell you a little bit about it. In Novermber of 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr, murdered his whole family at 112 Ocean Avenue. On November 21, 1975,  Ronald was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. On December 4, 1975, Judge Thomas Stark sentenced Ronald to six sentences of 25 years to life. It is well known that Ronald claimed that voices told him to kill his family. The house was investigated on the night of March 6, 1976, by Ed and Lorraine Warren. If you want to know more about this case, i suggest you check out the following interview on YouTube, where Ed and Lorraine Warren talk about that specific investigation:

https://youtu.be/QsX9HMzWg_E

Some of you might have seen the 2013 horror film The Conjuring, based on one of the cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren´s career, a very effective horror film with both fantastic acting and a really creepy atmosphere. This is still today one of the horror films i always recommend, since it is one of the best from director James Wan. The Conjuring 2, released in 2016, continued the legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren, played really good by actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga ( who portrayed the same characters in the first film as well ). The Conjuring 2 turned out to be a very effective horror film as well, and really gave us a deeper look into the relationship between Ed and Lorraine Warren. Both Patrick and Vera returned as Ed and Lorraine in Annabelle Comes Home, and they are actually the best part of that film ( i was not a big fan of that sequel ). It has been a couple of years since we could see another The Conjuring film, but here we are with the third film, that takes on another very famous case of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Since i am a big fan of the previous Conjuring films, is this third film the best in the franchise so far, or is The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It a total disaster from start to finish?

In 1981, demonologists Ed ( Patrick Wilson ) and Lorraine ( Vera Farmiga ) Warren document the exorcism of 8-year-old-David Glatzel ( Julian Hilliard ), attended by his family, his sister Debbie Glatzel ( Sarah Catherine Hook ), her boyfriend Arne Johnson ( Ruairi O´Connor ) and Father Gordon ( Steve Coulter ) in Brookfield, Connecticut. During the exorcism, Arne invites the demon to enter his body instead of David´s. Ed witnesses the demon transport itself from David´s to Arne´s while he suffers from a heart attack and is taken to a hospital. The following month, Ed wakes up in the hospital and reveals to Lorraine that he witnessed the demon enter Arne´s body. They both know that Arne is in danger, and they must find a way to help him, or he may not be able to be saved.

There is something special about seeing actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as Ed and Lorraine Warren, they are just a perfect match to play these legendary paranormal investogators. And in the case of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, they make sure to bring a performance that is the biggest reason why this is a good horror film. That does not mean the other actors are bad, they just have a hard time reaching to the same level of acting as Patrick and Vera deliver. So what else is positive about this sequel? The costume design is spot on into the early 1980´s. It feels like they really tried to capture the fashion of this time period, including how houses used to look like in those days. The cars that you see in this film also match well with the time period, and details like these helps this film feel like it is actually trying to tell a story from the early 80´s. I also enjoy the background story of this case, knowing that this is one of the most famous cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren. I will be honest and say i have not read a lot about this case, compared to the Amityville Haunting, but i have read some facts about the case, and i am fascinated. Does this film manage to capture the atmosphere of the Devil Made Me Do It case? I would say yes, at least for the most part. Is this film as scary as the previous The Conjuring films? I would have to say no, and the biggest reason for that is that this film is more focused on other details surrounding the case, than bringing us some really creepy moments as the first film did. As a horror film though, this is definetely worth watching, if you are a fan of the previous films. There are some moments where you do feel the right atmosphere. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It looks great, does a really good job capturing the 80´s, and the characters are interesting as well. Director Michael Chaves ( who directed the horror film The Curse Of La Llorona ) may not be as effective as director James Wan on making horror films, but this is definetely his best horror film so far. I really hope we get to see  Patrick and Vera come back as Ed and Lorraine in the future, they really shine in this third film of The Conjuring. If you love paranormal horror films, what are you waiting for? See this film, and i have a feeling you will be pleased to see the Warrens back in action.

Rating: DDD