Conjuring 3 - Im Bann des Teufels

It's 1981. The Warrens (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) are participating in the exorcism of a boy named David Glatzel. It leads to the case of Arne Johnson who claims that The Devil Made Me Do It.

I noticed early on that there is limited tension in this movie. I figured out that I don't care about Arne and nothing will happen to the Warrens since this is a prequel. I don't know any of these new people. Once Arne is in prison, I also realized that the legal system would never let him go. The Warrens can't prove this stuff in a court of law. It all culminates with the realization that this story is more a courtroom drama than a horror. This is not scary. As a horror, it is a stale by-the-coloring-book movie. It has nothing inventive or compelling. The supernatural becomes a series of random superpowers. I still love the Warrens but this is a bland superhero movie.

NO SPOILERS! Weakest of the series and and I have to believe the missing piece was director James Wan. The scares were way too predictable, the script felt one note and even though I went in cold I could still see the ending a mile away. Solid turns by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as they have always done but still even they couldn't elevate this one.

This third movie in the series was just ok. The director attempted to move the story away from the typical haunted house storyline of the previous two films. The problem is that the first couple films were very much liked so why deviate? True there needs to be some variety but most of these hauntings have enough variety to satisfy that.

The beginning scene is the best as it is the climax scene in a typical Conjuring movie, the exorcism. The film then devolves into satanic curses and flashy special effects while Ed and Lorraine investigate the source. In the end there is a small step between the sublime and the ridiculous and this film takes that step big time. They made the same error with the Conjuring 2 where the end scene with the lightning and the tree windows bursting would put to rest any question of demonic possession. This film goes even further with levitating and exploding windows and helicopters around.

Still the movie has some redeeming qualities. The special effects are good and the investigation, while choppy and navigating without a compass at times, is still intriguing. The scares are less but they are still there. This would be a good horror movie standalone but as a Conjuring movie it is weaker.

The most disappointing part is that the "true" story (depends if you believe in this stuff) would have made for a good movie. The documentary from Discovery "A Haunting" covered this case and it was a very good episode when I saw it.

In the end it is worth your time but it is a weak link in the series. I feel they should return to their roots for a Conjuring 4.

As I said, the film doesn't have the same power and unique feel as Wan's 2, but it is a nice continuation in the franchise with an intriguing story that does delve into the crime drama genre along with giving us the scares we come to know. You can tell Wan still was involved with certain camera works and scare concepts much like he was with the mediocre yet entraining curse of LaLlarona which this director Michael Chaves debuted on. While he doesn't fill Wan's shoes at all, he was able to follow a certain format for this particular franchise to move forward though at dragging pace at times.

The actors are all very good as usual and the duo of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the Warren's are phenomenal bursting with emotion as always. They carry this film completely. The effects are decently executed and the cgi looks near flawless. Some of the scares are a mixed bag of ambition and some are tremendously cliche, but they all do their jobs for the horror aspect. The ominous settings are fantastic and add rich environment for the frights to flourish.

Overall it's an effort that felt satisfying to see the premier franchise continue, but there's a definitive void without Wan's genius eye.

I watched the conjuring: the devil made me do it last night (25.5.21) at a special pre-screening and it is A very good film. It's also different than the previous haunted house conjurings and goes for the possessed murder case (similar to the exorcism of Emily rose) but this is better.

I really enjoyed it and hope for more conjuring universe movies (the crooked man)