'The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It' review: An overstuffed ghost story

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

It’s been eight years since “The Conjuring” scared audiences and convinced Hollywood that horror movies were a viable option in the summer marketplace. Two sequels and four spinoffs later, the little horror movie that could, has undeniably become financially successful but the latest installment, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” has creatively run out of steam. Spinning its wheels and unnecessary muddled, it has more in common with its offshoots (“The Nun” and three “Annabelle” movies) than it does with the first two “Conjuring” titles.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return to the series playing real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, but past director James Wan (“Aquaman”) is only producing this time around. Michael Chaves (“The Curse of La Llorona”) picks up directing duties, but apart from a strong opening, “The Devil Made Me Do It” sparsely comes alive.

And what an opening it is as the movie takes us to 1981, with the Warrens being summoned to perform an exorcism on David Glatzel. He’s an eight-year-old boy twisting and turning his body in the same way you’d expect a movie like this to showcase a demonic possession. The procedure is semi-successful as the demon is cast out of young David, but unbeknownst to the Warrens, transplanted into the body of family friend Arne Johnson. That small detail will come back to bite the paranormal hunters as Arne will eventually go on to commit a heinous crime with his only defense being, “the devil made me do it!”

“The Conjuring” series is loosely based on the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, with some details being glossed up for the cameras and others being omitted entirely. In the case of this entry, the Arne Johnson trial was the first to claim demonic possession as a line of defense, with the Warrens backing that play to mixed results. They are the stars of this franchise but while in previous “Conjuring” films they were more of a married “Scooby-Doo” team investigating paranormal activity, “The Devil Made Me Do It” splits them up for large chunks of the movie. And aside from its opening moments, when they are together, the film opts to focus on their romantic backstory instead of having them fight the evil forces that the series’ core audience have come to see.

Before making the first two “Conjuring” movies James Wan also directed the first two “Insidious” films, and aside from both franchises sharing Patrick Wilson as a leading man, they also share the same haunted house foundation. Wan knows how to make this type of film very well, extending that template to two cinematic universes. It’s entirely possible that in his hands “The Devil Made Me Do It” could have easily ended up being more of the same. But even hitting that same note once again would’ve been more effective than the dull turn we’ve gotten with this latest chapter.

Rating: C-

“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.