Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
The Warrens are such a lovely couple, so devoted to each other and their grounded love that you wish they would be at the service of a better horror movie than "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It." This latest Conjuring sequel is microwaved leftovers, leaving us with such a bland, overcooked taste that I just felt disappointed and underwhelmed. There is nothing here you haven't been served before.
This latest "Conjuring" movie begins with an exorcism of a bespectacled tyke whose body contorts and bends with such bone-cracking violence that I expected the kid to die. Alas, the kid is okay as the demon is transferred to an older twentysomething named Arne Johnson who insists on this transference by uttering words we had heard in another movie from 1973: "Take Me!" The question is whether Arne is really possessed or is the demon up to something else? Well, apparently this demon has murder on its mind as it gets Arne to kill his landlord with a pocket knife. Here is my question: if a demon can possess you (an amazing supernatural ability when you get right down to it), is the only thing on its mind is to have its host stab a landlord 22 times who is letting Arne and his girlfriend stay rent-free?
Naturally, our favorite demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga), are on board to prove that Arne is not a killer because, you know, the Devil made him do it (this was the first actual court case where demonic possession was entered as evidence). Plus, they know Arne from the possession of that young kid at the beginning of the movie. All this involves Lorraine to do the heavy work of veering into the visions of another dead victim that involves some occultist's totem (one which is discovered in the basement of the house from the opening sequence). Poor Ed has heart issues thanks to the near-deadly touch of the Devil so, for the majority of the movie, he has to walk with a cane.
None of this is goosebumping fun at all. Sure, this is based on a true story yet the details of this infamous 1981 case and the possession feel cribbed from many other movies, regardless of their (dubious) authenticity. This third "Conjuring" gets wrapped up in snore-inducing climaxes inside a house with a basement that leads to a lower level that looks like a lair out of any thousand movies about the occult (complete with an altar). The Warrens were more dynamic in previous "Conjuring" movies and only show their affection in a lovely ending. Unfortunately, they are mostly going through the paces of demonic visions that look tired, unfocused and plainly mediocre. Make me believe in the Warrens again.
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