The Devil Made Me Do It sees Ed & Lorraine Warren go up against their most powerful adversary yet. Whilst in attendance at an exorcism for a young boy they witness a demon release their grasp of their initial host and latch onto a new one! What happens next made international news in the real life story of Arne Johnson, the perpetrator of a violent murder who chose to plead not guilty on the basis that he was possessed at the time of the crime.
The movie opens with Ed & Lorraine already at the Gatzel house, having been brought in to help David, a young boy whose recent behaviour has been a cause for concern, and with an extreme lack of sleep mixed with nightly torment his parents don't know how much more he can take. An exorcism is approved by the church, and David heads off upstairs to have a nap whilst they wait for a priest. Cue evil doing it's thing, wreaking further havoc on the family and an exciting display of possession with the gut wrenching cracking of bones as the child is bent every which way by the demon inside. The scene culminates with David's sister's boyfriend Arne screaming for the demon to leave the poor boy alone, and take him instead.
The main storyline for the movie is that of Arne Johnson, a teen who is dating Debbie Gatzel, older sister of David. Arne stared evil in the eye and it stared right back at him! But that's not all that happened. A few months down the line the evil is once again taking it's opportunity to disrupt the life of it's host when Arne begins to hallucinate after a day of feeling unwell. He leaves work early and heads back to his rental which is also a property that his girlfriend works at, a kennels and animal boarding house. The landlord is also the boss, so when he starts acting a little drunk and disorderly Debbie tries to calm the situation. Unbeknownst to her there's something sinister lurking, and with a few inappropriate actions by the alcoholic boss, or at least that's what Arne sees, we end up with a brutal murder and he's the one to blame. Debbie saw the slaughter as it took place, all 22 stab wounds and a vicious side to her boyfriend she could never have expected. But then, it wasn't his fault was it? Arne is found wandering up a highway after Lorraine warns local law enforcement that she believed something untoward was about to happen. When the officer approaches him he claims he thinks he's hurt somebody. No shit Sherlock!
This movie is based on another Ed & Lorraine Warren real life case. This film doesn't follow the real life story quite as closely as it could, with an interesting side story featuring an antagonist who's plans and motives don't make much sense at all. Whilst it makes for an exciting fork in the river that is the story of Arne Johnson, I'm not sure that I could really appreciate it with the knowledge of the case I already had. The characters involved in the witch totem story didn't have much back story at all, with the occultist having little to no reason to behave in the way they did. I really wanted more of the story to be about the possession itself and demon behind it, rather than the person who summoned the demon. Yes, it does add to the flare. It also gave Lorraine more of a chance to showcase her gifts, using her interaction with the detective surrounding Katie's case and her interactions with a man of the church who's past experiences with satanists may hold the answers to her questions.
Vera and Patrick work so well together as the Warrens, and I'm so pleased that they were given the opportunity once again to showcase this. John Noble's appearance may have been fairly small in comparison to others in the movie, but I find that he's often a standout character in the movies he does act in. What can I say about Julian Hilliard? You may have spotted him in the recent Disney+ show Wandavision, appearing as Billy Maximoff. I can't believe he moved onto such an exciting but equally as scary role. He has visited the horror genre previously though, with Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House. Ruairi O'Connor is a relative newcomer to the movie industry but I think this will be his breakout role. Is it a compliment if I say he plays perturbed, mentally tormented, possessed adolescent really well? ...
If you've watched the other movies this one should be enjoyable, albeit the introduction to the case is a little less easy to stomach . We see twist upon twist as we've come to expect in the Conjuring Universe, with some great jump scares and an interesting enough story to keep you hooked. If you haven't seen any of the previous or related movies you could still watch this as a stand alone as it doesn't link in particularly with any of the previous releases in the franchise.
Review by CB.
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