THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT (2021)

Critic - No. 217

 

Director: Michael Chavas

Written by: James Wan, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Produced by: New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, Atomic Monster Productions

Casts: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine, Julian Hilliard

Language: English

Genre: Horror, Thriller


SYNOPSIS: 

Paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) take on one of the most sensational cases of their careers after a cop stumbles upon a dazed and bloodied young man walking down the road. Accused of murder, the suspect claims demonic possession as his defense, forcing the Warrens into a supernatural inquiry, unlike anything they've ever seen before.

 

REVIEW:

If you are a fan of this chilling paranormal horror series, you will feel slightly off to witness the scarcely scary The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and realise that you can enjoy this only if you abandon your desire to watch a terrifying haunted house movie in the vein of James Wan’s The Conjuring and settle for supernatural investigative thriller instead. 


Set in 1981, the film opens with a pre-title exorcism sequence that’s a pure homage to the classic horror flick, The Exorcist (1973). After a ferocious exorcism, teaming up with an overmatched priest on young David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard), who thrashes about and foams at the mouth and contorts his body in hideous fashion while the demon inside him throws a massive temper tantrum, Ed gets a heart attack which nearly kills him. The evil entity eventually exits David and enters Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor), the boyfriend of David’s sister. 


After a promising start, the narrative takes its time to maneuver around the subplots with occasional visits to the main supernatural track. With the majority of the initial scenes focusing on the trial, the story only returns back to Arne’s case occasionally and steers off into Lorraine and Ed’s investigation into a messy episode of witchcraft and sorcery that takes them deep into a world where there are all kinds of rules and regulations involving evil spirits, and you really have to know the playbook in order to defeat these otherworldly villains. With a deep dive into the investigative angle, the film forgets to have solid horror set pieces that made the series stand out from tons of horror films out there. Parallelly, the film also goes into flashback mode that highlights the initial courtship moments of the Warrens, trying its best to kick in the emotional urgency towards the climax. Sadly, the episode looks forced and flat. 


Of course, the film is not a complete disaster and it does engage us throughout, backed up with earnest performances by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, and chilling sound design. The film is a definite downer for the Conjuring series and the studio should urgently hire a more proven director in the genre for the next installment in order to salvage it.



VERDICT:
Playing out more like a convoluted investigative thriller, ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ is a definite downer in the ‘Conjuring’ series, lacking a gripping screenplay and chilling set pieces that made the series an earnest celebration for the horror fans.

CELLULOID METER- 2.5/5:



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