Short of scare factor due to lack of creativity and failing plot

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

By Tharishi Hewavithanagamage

Directed by Michael Chaves, with a screenplay by David L. Johnson-McGoldrick from a story by Johnson-McGoldrick and James Wan, ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ is the latest and eighth installment in the Conjuring franchise. It serves as a sequel to the 2013 movie ‘The Conjuring’ and the 2016 movie ‘The Conjuring 2’. The film is based on a real case file of the paranormal investigator couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The film focuses on a murder trial that took place in the 1981 in Connecticut, which marked the first time in US history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren alongside Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard and Eugenie Bondurant among others.

Set in 1981, Ed and Lorraine are in the middle of an exorcism of an eight-year-old boy, David Glatzel. Attending the exorcism are his family, his sister Debbie and her boyfriend Arne Johnson, who in a desperate bid to end David’s suffering invites the demon possessing the young child to enter his body and spare David’s life. With the demon exchanging bodies (which only Ed sees), Ed Warren suffers a heart attack and is taken to hospital. Arne, now host to the demon, kills his landlord Bruno Sauls by stabbing him 22 times and is arrested. He continues to claim that he was under the influence of demonic possession, making his case the first ever American murder trial to do so. The Warrens return to help with the investigation and prove his innocence, but their investigation leads them to the conclusion that the situation is far more complicated than it seems and that it goes beyond demonic possession.

The Conjuring franchise has explored many supernatural avenues from witches like Bathsheba, dolls like Annabelle to demons like Valak. The newest addition to the franchise seeks to step away and broaden the ‘haunted house’ setting in order to build on an investigative plotline. This opens up the movie and its settings as audiences are taken from a sunny forest area to the dark interiors of a morgue and an even darker maze of tunnels underground. The villainess in the story also comes from a different flavor of horror, the occult. The film casually references the cult called ‘The Disciples of the Ram’, which audiences already met in the films Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation. The Easter eggs tie up the various films in the Conjuring universe together, while also providing the perfect foundation for more titles or spin-offs in the future. Furthermore, and rather unfortunately, unlike the formidable Valak or relentless Annabelle, the new occultist villain, played by Eugenie Bondurant, is a less compelling antagonist. The character receives no in-depth exploration and is simply depicted as evil without further questioning. A well-rounded antagonist is a hallmark of a good horror movie and the film clearly missed the mark.

Going back to the film, the goal of swapping the 70s haunted house vibes for a satanic era isn’t exactly translated in the film. The film fails to bring any novel ideas or visually horrifying imagery into the plot. In comparison, the other films in the franchise have a better scare-factor. Some can argue that because it is based on a supernatural case or investigation and is constrained from going beyond the set limits, the creators have done what they can with the leeway they were afforded. But even then the details of the trial take the back seat as focus shifts to the curse instead. The film had potential to be scary with the new setting, environment and a new villain, but succumbed to a lack of creativity and a failing plot.

Despite the negativities that haunt the tale, the Warrens are the central characters and their presence brings life to the realms of the undead. The Film shifts the focus onto their deep and understanding relationship, exploring a previously unexplored avenue. The heart attack gives Ed physical limitations for the first time in the franchise, which forces him to sit back and watch his wife dive into the investigation. Under his current circumstances Ed has no guarantee that he can safeguard Lorraine whenever she uses her gift of clairvoyance. The film also gives room for Lorraine to showcase the extent of her abilities. Their loving nature and loyalty to one another, and the support they each lend to strengthen themselves, their expertise and their gifts is tested as the paranormal reaches their doorsteps and enters their lives. The onscreen chemistry shared by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga makes the story an emotional one, which works well enough to keep the movie afloat.

In the end, ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ adds its own refreshing twist to the tales of the paranormal by exploring the human sentimentality and emotional scope between the two protagonists of the story. The film successfully provides an emotional story while laying the groundwork to adapt more real-life cases of the Warren couple in the future. However, as part of the bigger picture and its standing in the Conjuring universe, the slight change of pace staggers as it fails to outline and produce a balanced portrayal of both the human and horror aspect, which lands the film below the standards set by its predecessors.