The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It | Film Review

 

I had to watch this film twice before I felt like I could review it. I am a huge fan of the Conjuring Franchise - it's easily one of my favourite franchises, including all the spin-offs, so I was really excited to see this. But I wanted to be 100% sure of my thoughts before I wrote them down.

Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) take on a case like no other. When Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor) commits a murder, he enlists the help of the Warrens to prove that he was possessed by a demon.

For me, this was the weakest of the Conjuring Franchise. It was an okay movie, but it wasn't as good as what we've come to expect from a Conjuring movie.

Having said that, I loved the opening scene. It sets the tone of the entire film really well, and does a really great job of opening up the wider story.

It didn't really feel like a Conjuring movie. Particularly because of the existence of the trial, which brought the work that Ed and Lorraine do into the real world, rather than just in the world of the main family. It was an interesting angle to take, but because of that, I didn't feel as immersed in this story as I have with the previous stories.

It wasn't as scary as I wanted it to be, especially for a film called 'The Devil made me do it'. It didn't have the hook that the previous movies had - such as Annabelle, Valak/The Nun, The Crooked Man or even in the first film where there wasn't a specific demon, but the situation itself was scary enough to carry the film. This one didn't live up to those at all.

The characters aren't as compelling as they've been in previous movies - and that even goes for Ed and Lorraine, who I usually absolutely love. Of course, there is great chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, but there was nothing new for the characters. And then some other characters just completely disappeared after being shown in the first scene, so it didn't make much sense to include them in the first place. 

The problem with the film is that it either needed to really develop the characters, or really develop the plot, but both of these things were underdeveloped, so the film didn't really work. We didn't get to spend enough time with the possessed family in the beginning of the film, and including them more would have definitely strengthened the plot.

It was an interesting story, but I do wonder why it was chosen as the next in the franchise. Because it doesn't really offer anything new, and it didn't develop the existing characters.  

Overall, I'm really disappointed that I didn't love this film, because I was really excited for it. It was an average horror movie, but for a Conjuring movie, it just felt a bit underwhelming.

4/10