People love ghost hunting. Ed and Lorraine Warren were the OG’s, recording their exploits and becoming celebrities along the way. They were heavily involved in the Arne Johnson court case, a famous murder case because like the title suggests, Arne pleaded insanity by way of demonic possession. The Devil Made Me Do It takes the ghost hunting Warrens and plants them firmly in the middle of their plot instead of being supporting characters. It’s not a bad strategy, but Johnson’s case lacks the emotional gut punch the first two Conjuring films built their stories upon.
The “possessed” murder on February 16, 1981 served as the inspiration to this Conjuring Sequel. At this point, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren had been working on a case with Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) for a good bit. Arne’s girlfriend Debbie Glatzel (Sarah Hook) has a younger brother who had become possessed by a demonic spirit. Arne selflessly asked the spirit to save the boy and come into his body instead. After that “transfer” a few days later, Arne commits a murder, but has no recollection of what he had done. Desperate, he reaches out to the Warrens, who help with his defense in court and pull themselves into the eerie circumstances of the Johnson/Glatzel possession.
The formula of the first 2 Conjuring’s was a potent, solid mixture. The Warren’s were not the stars of those movies: 2 helpless families were, and the Warren’s came in to help them overcome their sinister situations, usually relying on their love and family connection to defeat the evil they were encountering. The Devil Made Me Do It messes with the formula a little, in that Ed and Lorraine are the center of the movie instead of the Glatzel’s or Arne Johnson. That means we get lots of fun looks at our favorite Catholic Superheroes doing their spiritual superpower thing. Vera Farmiga becomes the Professor Xavier of the movie, recreating all manner of supernatural events to help close all sorts of open investigations with Ed the stoic steady hand carrying a sledgehammer or cross if necessary. Using the father, the son, and the holy spirit, the Warrens use their combined love and talents to dazzle everyone around them with their realistic murder reenactments and calm during horrifying exorcisms. I WISH all faith based films were as fun as the Conjurings.
But because Ed and Lorraine have established themselves as nearly impenetrable good guys, the movie works really hard to manufacture emotions and stakes by limiting the couple through forced health problems or overly questionable decision making. That’s easily forgivable. But the heavy focus on the couple means our emotional storytelling takes a hit; we’re never worried the Warrens don’t love each other or are in too grave a danger for them. That lowers the stakes and the scares, removing the simple powerful emotions the first 2 Conjurings have, showcasing a scared family finding the courage to stand up for each other. I guess Catholic superhero is more fun in name than in practice.
But there’s still plenty to enjoy about The Devil Made Me Do It. There’s a few really fun scares (water beds for the win), and the Wilson/Farmiga pairing is as rock solid as a franchise carrier in the acting department as any franchise today. Should there be a Conjuring 4, I hope we pivot back to the Warrens as the Supernatural Crusaders, here to defend good families from lesser demons! Call 1800-TRINITY to order your Warren today!