The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It - Give Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson a TV series already!
By Jim Slotek
Rating: B-minus
It’s time to give an actual TV series to demon-busters Ed and Lorraine Warren – or at least to Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who play the late real-life couple so winningly in The Conjuring movies.
Apart from a booming and shockingly-effective opening scene of an exorcism on an eight-year-old boy, there is little stylistically in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (a.k.a. The Conjuring 3) that sets it apart from paranormal series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, The X-Files or Fringe.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson host a little Bible study with a demonic adversary.
Indeed, one of the main characters, an ex-priest who devotes himself to cracking Satanic codes, is John Noble, who played Walter Bishop on Fringe.
This isn’t to slam The Devil Made Me Do It. But I would definitely watch that TV series. Utter familiarity with the characters and their movie universe (spin-offs include the Annabelle movies and The Nun) has earned them regular visits to my living room.
And like a TV series, quality of episodes will vary wildly.
From the instant that heightened moment plays out at the beginning, and the putative demon jumps from its child host to the good-natured Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor), The Devil Made Me Do It becomes a familiar exercise in pre-Internet occult research/sleuthing. The movie is wrapped around a 1981 case, in which Johnson used demon possession (unsuccessfully) as a defence in a trial over the murder of his landlord.
Much time is spent poring over dusty old books about demonology and Satan worship, the significance of certain amulets and symbols, and searches for people capable of translating Aramaic.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
See, this isn’t your typical demon, but possibly a weaponized one. There are human forces at work, a puzzle that plays out amid regularly placed jump-scares with Arne in prison, effectively alone with his supernatural tormentor, and Lorraine’s trademark visions of past events attracting the attention of same.
As I say, we’re pretty familiar with the movie version of Ed and Lorraine (a visit to the Warrens’ occult museum in Connecticut remains on my to-do list, though it may now be closed permanently). But it behooves director Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona) to insert a story about how they met cute at a carnival when they were young (the better to inject a “love conquers all” moment at a critical juncture in the last act).
Chaves doesn’t seem like someone capable of elevating the genre. During the otherwise startling opening scene, there is a cheesy moment when the official Catholic exorcist arrives, approaching the house in silhouette in a direct steal from The Exorcist. Sure, call it an homage, but it is also a groaner.
And as the movie becomes bogged down in details about demons, spells, curses, and who the human perpetrator is of this infernal nonsense (complete with a much-needed “allow me to explain” moment as the movie nears its close), The Devil Made Me Do It just sort of lurches to its simplistic violent end.
It’s a lesser episode to be sure. But Wilson and Farmiga are both so accomplished and comfortable in their roles at this point, that they distract us from the movie’s flaws.
Which is what TV stars typically do.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Directed by Michael Chaves. Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Ruairi O’Connor. Opens in theatres where available and home rental on Friday, June 4.