The Conjuring franchise has gotten a lot more miles in theaters than a lot of people ever thought it would, including sequels and spin offs. The most recent entry, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” demonstrates that the mythology still has a few scares left in it.
Ed and Lorraine Warren are back again with one of their case files, this time, following a botched exorcism that has lead to Arne Johnson committing some terrible acts. Now up for trial for those crimes, it’s up to our duo to unravel the mysteries and conquer the demons wrecking Arne’s life before either the courts or the monsters puts him to death.
Even after so many outings, this stuff still makes for a creepy movie.
The perpetually underrated Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are still good as the Warrens and remain the heart of the franchise. Director Michael Chaves doesn’t scare us any other way we haven’t already been scared before, but brings it to us by effective brute force anyways and that’s why the film is still pretty good. The intensity is still here.
But this movie won’t scare everyone and we’ve been through the drill a few times already. It’s also a little longer than it has to be with filmmakers really leaning into the sprawling shots and extended periods of silence. There is also a tweak in the drama, which probably could have been done better.
There will be more Conjuring movies. They’re just too cheap to make and for horror fans that are over the slasher formula that ran the genre for so long, it’s still a fun time. It’s not as fresh as it used to be but you’ll still be entertained.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Grade: B
Rated: R
Running Time: 1 Hour 52 Minutes