The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It – Review (4/5)

THE CONJURING 3: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT (on HBO Max and in movie theaters) has more horror-action than the previous movies. It also focuses more on Ed and Lorraine Warren but still has great scares. Read our full The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It movie review here!

THE CONJURING 3: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT is out on both HBO Max (until July 4, 2021) and in movie theaters. This time around, the story is more faced paced and has more of an action-horror feel at times. It’s also the first one not directed by James Wan and it does show. However, it also still has many moments featuring great scares.

While the pace may feel faster, there is also an increased focus on the romance of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Including scenes that show how they met. To me, this was a nice treat because horror always works better when emotions are involved (to me, anyway). I was more surprised that the actual Arne Johnson story didn’t take up much screentime.

Continue reading our The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It movie review below.

This third time is all about Ed and Lorraine Warren

As mentioned above, The Conjuring 3 is all about Ed and Lorraine Warren. From how they met, to how they work together and the way in which they are constantly met with disbelief. They persevere together which is something we’ve already seen in the previous two movies.

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Our review of The Conjuring 2 here >

In getting ready for this third movie, I rewatched the previous two and the action did already increase with The Conjuring 2. In that sense, it seems like a very natural evolution to have an even quicker pace in this movie. Also, Ed Warren continues to try and be the hero, but by now we all know that Lorraine Warren is usually the one who saves the day.

Will the same happen in this third movie? You’ll have to watch it to find out.

Of course, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson continue to be just perfect as Lorraine and Ed respectively. I’ve always liked both actors and in The Conjuring universe, they just make perfect sense. This time around, they’ve virtually turned into detectives. Still, I did expect the true story of Arne Johnson to have more screentime.

Maybe in the style of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (which I love) where the trial was the focus and we then saw the demonic events in flashbacks. They’ve gone a very different route with this movie and the whole “The Devil Made Me Do It” seems to suddenly refer to more people than “just” Arne Johnson.

The subtitle of this third movie was otherwise taken from his defense at the murder trial.

No, Doug Jones isn’t in The Conjuring 3

When we first see a glimpse of a sinister character in the shadows, I nearly jumped in my seat and thought “Wow, is that Doug Jones?! Awesome!”. But no, Doug Jones is not in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. I just got so excited because I thought I saw the likeness of the actor I adore from movies like Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) or The Shape of Water (2017).

A bit later on, I realize the enormity of my error when I could see that the form was actually female. It’s the brilliant actor Eugenie Bondurant who we recently saw in Fear of Rain. You may also recognize her from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. She’s perfect in The Conjuring 3 which just made me hope that we’ll see her in more genre movies soon.

For the record, Doug Jones has actually played female characters in the past as a body horror actor. He was Edith’s Mother / Lady Sharpe in Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015). In other words, it wasn’t totally crazy that I thought I saw him at first.

Apart from Eugenie Bondurant, we also see the young Julian Hilliard as the boy David who is first possessed when the movie begins. He is such a great horror actor, but we already knew that from watching him portray the young “Luke” in the brilliant Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House and Color Out of Space.

Watch The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It now!

The director of The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It is Michael Chaves who is already familiar with The Conjuring universe. In fact, his feature film debut as a director was with The Curse of La Llorona (2019). A movie I was in no way impressed by despite adoring the woman who starred in it.

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Our review of The Curse of La Llorona >

Fortunately,  Michael Chaves works much better as a director this time around for me. Also, the script seems much better. It’s by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick who co-wrote The Conjuring 2. He also wrote on some of the more recent episodes of The Walking Dead (which have finally gotten watch-worthy again) and debuted as a writer with Orphan (2009) also starring Vera Farmiga.

While I do think The Conjuring 3 is the weakest of the three movies in the trilogy (which might have more movies added to it), I would still definitely recommend it. I would give it a 3½ out of 5 but have no problem rounding up since we don’t do half ratings. Enjoy yet another round of Ed and Lorraine Warren… including some brilliant scares along the way!

The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It is out in theaters and on HBO Max from June 4, 2021.

Details

In Theaters: June 4, 2021 (USA)
On VOD: June 4, 2021, on HBO Max (USA)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Director: Michael Chaves
Writer: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick
Stars: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O’Connor, Sterling Jerins, Charlene Amoia, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard