When horror franchises reach their eighth instalment overall, they’ve usually soured and begin to lack in quality and value. Fortunately, that curse is something that the Conjuring universe appears to have avoided altogether, with their new film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It being no exception.
Serving as a sequel to the original 2013 release and its 2016 follow-up, The Devil Made Me Do It brings Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga back to the big screen as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. For those who have seen everything the Conjuring universe has to offer, we know that they’re the real deal. For anybody in doubt, it doesn’t take long for their worthiness to be proven here.
We kick things off as the Warrens fight for the soul of a young boy named David Glatzel, played expertly by rising star Jullian Hilliard who horror fans may recognise from Netflix original series, The Haunting of Hill House.
Objects fly and the youngster’s body contorts in ways no human ever should, with his bones twisting in utterly abnormal directions. Though he is restrained to a table by the Warrens along with his family members and the boyfriend of his older sister, the demon’s power overwhelms them and he launches an attack. It’s only through the bravery of said sister’s boyfriend - Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) - who tells the demon to take him instead, that he is unleashed from the demon’s clutches.
It’s at this point that the real narrative of The Devil Made Me Do It begins to emerge. Though there is are a few fleeting moments in which the family and the Warrens believe they have been successful in dispelling the demon, it soon becomes clear that their nightmare has only really just began.
What follows is arguably Farmiga and Wilson’s single best performance as part of the Conjuring universe to-date. Their raw chemistry on screen is a thing of beauty; the love they share for one another clear. They are drastically head over heels in love with a palpable and electric energy which never fails to draw them together. No one could ever accuse their relationship of being forced or wooden.
That adoration is something emulated by both O’Connor as Arne and his character’s partner Debbie Glatzel, played by Sarah Catherine Hook. They don’t quite reach the same dizzying heights as Wilson and Farmiga but, they’ve not had multiple films to tell their story, which of course always helps.
Director Michael Chaves weaves those romantic subplots with precision throughout, even allowing us glimpses into the Warrens earlier years. Of course, in a horror flick of this sort, they’re not the main focus.
So, just how does The Devil Made Me Do It stack up as a horror movie? In this humble fan’s opinion, very well! There are a multitude of jump scares but saying too much about them would spoil the fun. Now that you can get back into a cinema seat and enjoy the experience of being in the movie theatre with friends and family, indulge yourself! It’s worth every penny.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is available in cinemas across the UK now.