The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – Movie Reviews by Ry!
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – Horror’s Folly with the Warrens
It is the chills of silence as they move through dark halls. One step upon the creaking floor breeds an unexpected feeling in the atmosphere. With the culmination of everything, it is those little things that will make you jump and scream in terror. From the blood-soaked slashers to the ghostly suspenseful thrills, to experience dread is the main purpose of horror films. In this review, I look at a film that provides that feeling through the rehashing of familiar. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a horror that dances uniqueness in a formula that is trite and true.
In one of there most sensational cases, The Warrens investigate a murder that involves a demonic possession in 1981. The foundation is built upon two factors: the actuality of the Warren case and commonality of the film property. With a mixture of truth and fiction, this sequel spins a story that levels out an experience within the Warrens’ casework. The story begins with a buildup through general exposition. Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren are attempting to exercise a demon that is haunting the Glatzel family. Through some convenience horror tropes, there is a ‘changing of the guard’ of the demonic possession (inciting incident). This leads to a slow build through the lives of certain character, creating a situation of a deadly murder (key incident). From this point, the story becomes a linear directive that melds the horror elements within the investigation. The pressure is placed upon the Warrens to prove the existence of demonic possession for the courts. Through their detective-like work, you slowly move away from predictable elements into a melding of ingenious detail. You have a unique spin that melds the basics (of the genre) with evidence findings, subtle detail and the auspicious nature of ‘what comes next’. You see an enveloping of detail that drives realness in the demonic aspect that is happening to the family. It is that genuine balance between the experience and scare tactics that lets you feel frights but also want to know what is truly happening to the young man convicted of murder.
As the Warrens begin to reveal the patterns of possessions, it leads to a bigger conspiracy of cults. With a mixture of investigative and suspense tropes, you have another layer to the horror foundation. Each revelation leads to a building of connections, weaving plot devices on a chessboard against time. The Warrens enter a stage of unexpected danger that is relevant to the case. As things comes to light, we head into a finale that pits the Warrens against a truly daunting foe. This leads to a full circle climax and an epilogue that provides closure to the casefile. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It plays upon common tropes that lead into genuine fun. This is another delight to those familiar with the property and love horror films. This is available on HBOMax (for a time), but it is worth seeing at the theaters.
Full Score – 3.5 out of 5 (Matinee)