You’ll find no other website with a more comprehensive collection of movie reviews from the Conjuring franchise than DagonDogs.com. That’s probably not true, but don’t bother proving the case by going anywhere else! The point is, I have managed to watch every movie in that franchise, even that garbage heap Curse of La Llorona film—which isn’t really a part of it anyway and no one remembers it (including me), but I had to mention it. As in any popular film franchise with as many installments as this one, you have some good films and some not-so-good. When it comes to The Conjuring and its extended universe, the spin-offs were usually not very good, but the core Conjuring films still had a high level of horror quality that was mostly unmatched by other modern horror films. With the third entry in the Conjuring trilogy, does this one continue the streak or fall short like the rest?

Pros

A more investigative thriller; changes the formula a bit
Acting and cinematography are all good

Cons

No memorable scares or creepy characters like in other films
A little more effort in the makeup should have been made to show Ed and Lorraine as older to match the dialogue
The ‘twist’ is pretty weak
Lots of drama that comes across as forced because of how old the series is starting to feel

Plot & Thoughts

After an exorcism that goes poorly, Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) has a massive heart attack and ends up in the hospital. Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) stays by his side, unaware that the demon they had thought was exorcised from the young boy had actually migrated to the young man Arne (Ruairi O’Connor), who was present at the time. After a few days of feeling under the weather and having some nasty visions, Arne mistakes a friend of his for a demon and stabs him to death. While at the police station, going over what happened, the recovered Ed and Loraine Warren determine that the demon is no longer possessing him. This complicates his legal defense—I’m not sure how admissible demonic possession is as a defense argument in a court of law, but I’m not a lawyer. Now, it’s up to Ed and Lorraine to investigate how he came to be possessed in the first place and if they can find any evidence to show that he was not in control of himself when the murder happened.

As I mentioned, The Conjuring side of the franchise tends to be better than its spin-offs. One could also note that, with each sequel, each film’s quality has decreased overall. I liked the decision to break away from the haunted house format and I like a good horror mystery, in general. Yet, I was far less compelled to pay attention to this movie than in previous installments. It could be a bit of franchise fatigue, but I think there’s more to why this film fell into the realm of mediocrity. To better understand, we have to refer to the previous films.

The first two Conjuring films focused on families enduring a haunting experience with some sort of demonic possession. There were a lot of characters, most often consisting of children. The numerous characters added more variables to the scenario because you didn’t know who was going to get attacked by a ghost, making it more difficult to predict what would happen next. Even in the moments in which it was clear who was in danger, the pacing of those scenes was done really well and ratcheted up the tension at the appropriate speed. The fact that the stories took place in mostly one setting also made it easier for the filmmakers to linger in scenes and really set the stage.

By getting away from the haunted house format, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is able to try to be a different type of movie with a more dynamic plot. However, it loses the tension of an established setting. It also is primarily focused on just Ed & Loraine digging up evidence, which doesn’t allow for many moments in which the tension and horror could build to such a fever pitch as they did in previous movies. The fact that the plot also revolves around Arne in prison means there aren’t as many opportunities to do creepy scenes of him being haunted. Essentially, this movie sacrifices a lot of the intense horror and tension the previous films had for a more involved plot, which, unfortunately, doesn’t end up being very engaging.

There are moments in which something interesting occurs, but it’s not really enough to make you care about the plot or the characters. We’re attached to the Warrens because they’ve been the through-line of the franchise, but no one else in this movie really warrants our attention or sympathy. This movie tries some new things, like having a tangible antagonist, but misses the mark on even making that character anything more than an evil person with magical powers. I don’t know why we just have to accept that they have these powers, but if you’re suspending your disbelief over everything else in this franchise, why not include the dark magic of Satan? The point is, there was a lot of potential here, but the movie never sticks the landing. It’s not a disaster, but it could have been better.

TL;DR (Conclusion)

While still better than the spin-offs in the Conjuring franchise, The Devil Made Me Do It is definitely the weakest of the core films. The decision to get away from a haunted house scenario allowed the filmmakers to try a few new things but lost the plot in the process. The result is a potentially intriguing, but ultimately forgettable film that manages to tread new ground for the series without doing anything that is truly memorable or frightening. Unlike Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, this franchise is starting to show its age.

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