[Film Review] The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

* Spoilers? *

The Conjuring franchise has been an interesting addition to the horror movie landscape of recent years. The first film was a well-done supernatural chiller based on true cases of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren that had some genuine scares and fun characters. The real Warrens are figures of controversy for some and for others full-on contempt, the movie Warrens are like your favourite horror movie aunt and uncle; their presence is instantly comforting and you are always happy to see them, with their love and faith so solid and pure it’s stronger than literal evil from Hell. It’s just nice to see a film couple whose relationship is never in question for the sake of cheap drama. The rest of the franchise, or The Conjuring Universe to give it its full title, has been a mixed bag. Using the Enfield Poltergeist case as the basis for the second film always rubbed me the wrong way when the Warrens’ involvement in that case was tangential at best and intrusive at worst. A drama based around that case is the 2015 miniseries The Enfield Haunting made for Sky TV starring Timothy Spall and is well worth checking out. Then there are the spin-offs, (none of which apart from David F. Sandberg’s Annabelle: Creation) are really worth seeking out, even if it’s status as a prequel to the Annabelle prequel means that the timeline for the demon in this doll is actually hilarious when you think about it; going from doll to little girl and then into a doll that is coincidentally identical to the previous doll it inhabited, to being stuck in a glass case. 

The true case as the basis for The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, is that of the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruari O’Connor) who murdered his landlord and it was claimed in court that he was innocent due to lack of personal responsibility because of demonic possession. It was the first known court case in America that used this defence, and so you might be expecting something similar to The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the courtroom faith vs law drama that made that film so compelling. Instead, the   a focus is on the reasons for Arne’s possession in the aftermath of the exorcism of David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard) the little brother of his girlfriend Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook), and expanding the real life case with a very human antagonist pulling the strings. 

There is a comforting familiarity to the film, and that is both a good and a bad thing. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are as charming as ever, and indeed this movie focuses on them and their story more than either of the previous films. There are also some interesting horror set pieces including an effective one in a morgue, and it’s surprisingly funny in places. With that familiarity comes a sense of predictability though and there are few surprises on offer here, but then for some who  might just want that kind of easy and comfort zone dwelling experience,that is fine. However, it  feels like something is missing, something just out of the film’s reach that could have made it a real shake up for the series. We haven’t before had a human living antagonist for the Warrens to go up against, and that’s something that could have been really interesting, but all we know about them is “evil”. Why are they doing this? Evil. What is motivating them? Evil. Why are they going to do if they achieve their goals? More evil probably.

James Wan does not return for directing duties this time, and instead  Michael Chaves (who also directed the highly forgettable spin-off The Curse of La Llarona), takes the helm and the film definitely suffers from the lack of Wan’s personality and palpable enthusiasm for the stories he tells. The film also sorely misses his way of building characters and allowing us to connect to them. Not the Warrens themselves of course, but the connection to the poor souls that are being affected by the evil presence. In The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case we spent time with the families, we saw how the supernatural events were impacting them. Here we do not get as much as that, Arne and Debbie aside. Debbie’s parents disappear from the film entirely after a couple of scenes, when you would think that their daughter’s boyfriend being possibly possessed after participating in their son’s exorcism might give them pause for thought. Even David barely gets much involvement beyond the initial set-up and that horrifying scene involving a waterbed, which is a shame as Julian Hilliard is a great actor and the scene where David describes the feeling of being taken over to Arne is a really good one.

The scares are the usual modern horror diet of too many jump scares that after a while end up losing any impact. The film also seems to think that all you need for a horror atmosphere is never turning on the lights, when all it achieves here is making you wonder why everyone in this film is so dedicated to keeping their electricity bill down. Really great horror movies can terrify you even in bright daylight, building the tension and filling you with dread, flipping a light switch is no substitute. The movie also commits the sin of reminding your audience of a better movie in the first 15 minutes, as we get probably the most eye-rollingly obvious reference to The Exorcist possible. 

Unfortunately for The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, this is yet another case of diminishing returns. Whilst it isn’t bad and will definitely scratch any itches you might have for supernatural horror and Vera Farmiga in vintage blouses, it has none of the atmosphere and terror that made the first film so memorable.

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