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MOVIE REVIEW
'The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It' May Not Be As Big As Its Predecessors, But Will Still Please Fans
By Sal LoCicero | June 24, 2021
The Conjuring Universe has made quite an impact in the horror genre. Back in 2013, when ‘The Conjuring’ first hit, it was the biggest horror movie of that year. With both critics and audience, ‘The Conjuring’ was one of the most terrifying films of all time. That is all thanks to Writer/Director James Wan, who at the time was known for creating one of the scariest pictures of the 2000s; ‘Insidious’.
While each movie in the franchise has gotten worse - most of them being the spin-offs - some have managed to stay on par with the first. ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ' is the latest chapter that follows Ed and Lorraine Warren as they uncover a supernatural threat that endangers the life of a young man. As they go deeper into this case, they encounter something that could be worse than they ever expected. Many were skeptical about this one mainly due to James Wan’s absence as director. Wan was able to carry two Conjuring films on his own and because of him, we have a Universe.
This time, Director Michael Chaves takes Wan’s place as director. When you compare this movie to the other ones, this is easily the worst of the three, but that doesn’t label this film as a failure.‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ uses the same exact formula as the previous Conjuring films without losing its touch. It’s both frightening and innovative. In this one, it feels like we are literally following the Warren’s while they investigate this threat. It’s more of a mystery this time around than just another horror sequel. The filmmakers have expressed that they wanted to try something else with this sequel than to just make it another horror induced feature, and they succeeded.
The plot may not be as compelling as it should, but it’s the performances by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga that keep us invested throughout. They’re performances as well as the characters are a huge help to this movie. Without these two, this wouldn’t have worked. The jump scares are still present and will still scare the hell out of you. The score by Joseph Bishara is ominous, and the cinematography by Michael Burgess is pretty good, but it could’ve been improved with the lighting. Those features gave the movie a different look during certain scenes.
The antagonist is the worst part of this feature. She is so dull and uninteresting. The third act was atrocious, it makes you wonder why the writers chose in the direction that they did. This is where James Wan should’ve taken over.
Other than that, this isn’t a bad film. It is very interesting to see where this franchise will go next, what else it will explore and other characters it will introduce. There was a plan to produce another Conjuring spin-off with “The Crooked Man''; introduced in ‘The Conjuring 2’. While it could’ve been improved in a few places, the majority of it is pretty good, and if you are a fan of this universe, you definitely need to check this out.
Grade: B
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