Movie Review: THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga

The Conjuring films have been highly successful and well reviewed for the most part, so the third film should be another strong horror film according to the track record of the first two films.

Sadly, this isn’t the case. While the newest film about famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren’s delivers some scares and an interesting story, it is the weakest of the three films. This entry into the Conjuring series is just not as full of scares as the first two. The viewer also has relatively no reason to care about the young man that the Warren’s are trying to save from a life behind bars, or worse.

In the first two films, the audience had feelings or a connection to the characters. The third film just feels a bit canned compared to the other two. Yes, we get a few scares, but nothing is truly terrifying or creepy in the third film. In fact, the best part for me, was the ending, as credits rolled, we get to see and hear some of the actual case the movie is based on. That was really the scariest part of the film.

Of course, Wilson and Farmiga are great as the Warren’s, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in the first two films. We get a short glimpse of their daughter, a quick shot of the famous doll Annabelle, along with the room that Ed keeps all the objects that were supposedly possessed, but no more mention of either throughout the film. In my opinion, I would find a film about everything in that room more fascinating and scary than a canned horror film with a few jumps and tense moments.

Sequels rarely live up to the original, but I had high hopes for the third installment of this series, and was ultimately left wanting more and hoping for a story I could feel scared from. It just didn’t happen in this film.

After the let down of the new Conjuring film, perhaps it’s time to let the Warren’s Rest In Peace, as both have passed on. Whether you believe the Warren’s were phonies or could actually see spirits, the films are purely for entertainment purposes, but the only problem with ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ is it’s just not that entertaining.

‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,’ gets a C-.