253. The Conjuring - The Devil Made Me Do It; movie review

 

 

THE CONJURING - THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT

Cert 15

112 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong injury detail, horror

I am not a big fan of horrors and I get a bit tetchy when true stories are mangled to enhance the dramatic effect of movies.

And yet I have found The Conjuring franchise rather compelling.

This may be down to the chemistry of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the Warrens - the paranormal investigators who were brought into several famous cases.

Nevertheless, I feel that it might have reached its natural end with The Devil Made Me Do It.

This time the ghostbusters have been brought in to rid a little boy (Julian Hilliard) of the demon who possesses him.

This is one of the Warrens' stiffest tests and they appear to be failing until Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor), the boyfriend of the victim's sister, appeals to the spirit to take him instead.

Ed Warren suffers a heart attack during the exorcism so the fall-out goes unnoticed but Arne's life is changed forever.

Indeed, they seek to prove that 'the devil made him do it' when he savagely kills a man.

Not for the first time, the Warrens fear for each other, both physically and mentally, as they try to unravel the origination of this malevolent spirit.

Meanwhile, they are trying to help the legal case of the undisputed killer and prevent him from being executed.

Michael Chaves throws the kitchen sink at this film with the action from the opening scenes to the last.

Consequently, I thought it was a tad overcooked with only perfunctory character exploration. Previous movies have better balance and, consequently, the audience is more invested in the personalities when all hell literally breaks loose.

Neither was it as frightening as its predecessors.

Perhaps, therefore, it is time to call it a day before The Conjuring saga becomes so stretched that its franchise becomes as bad as The Purge.

Reasons to watch: The chemistry between Farmiga and Wilson

Reasons to avoid: Not as good as the previous Warrens' films

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Ed Warren's first contact with the paranormal was when he was five years old. He claimed he saw an apparition: a dot of light that grew until it became his family's landlady, who had died the year before.

The final word. Michael Chaves: "Think big scares, big tension jump scare...even though [there are jump scare] critics out there, people love to go to the movies and get scared. And I think that's the biggest thing with the Conjuring movies and The Conjuring Universe."

 

 

Share this post