The Conjuring 3: How Does it Compare to the First Two?

Title: The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It

Studio: New Line Cinema, Safran Company, Atomic Monster

Director: Michael Chaves

Main Actors: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O’Connor Sarah Catherine Hook, and Julian Hilliard

Run Time: 1hr 52min

Rating: R

The Conjuring movies are part of a long series called the “Conjuring Universe.” This includes eight horror movies which premiered between 2013 and 2021. The entire series includes three Anabelle movies, The Nun, The Curse of La Llorona and the three-part Conjuring movies. With the first two movies being a hit, expectations for the third one remained high. But did this movie live up to the hype the rest of these horror movies created? The answer to that question lies within the directing. The first two Conjuring movies were directed by James Wan who famously directed the horror films Saw and Insidious. His mysterious and well-thought-out directing is what led to the success of the first two Conjuring movies. However, the third movie was directed by Michael Chaves who is famously known for directing The Curse of La Llorona, also part of the Conjuring Universe. Chave’s directing turns this movie into a case-solving thriller and the change in directing is what leads me to conclude that this movie did not live up to the hype that it promised, especially when comparing it to the first two of the Conjuring series.

 Every Conjuring film follows the storyline of a possession; an element of horror movies that has been forever incorporated into these films. The Conjuring 3 begins with the exorcism of David Glatzel, a young boy who has been possessed by an unknown entity. A priest is called in to perform the exorcism and pulls up to the house in the beginning of the movie. The priest looks towards the house with a worried look on his face and begins walking towards it down a foggy walkway. This scene resembles The Exorcist, a famous horror film from 1973 where a priest is shown in a very similar scene. It is clear that influences from this classic horror movie were drawn into The Conjuring 3 to create a sense of recognition in the viewers, and it did just that.

With the exorcism happening right away in this movie, we lose the sense of ‘haunting’ that the other two Conjuring movies do so well at incorporating. What made those first two movies so memorable were the intense build ups of hauntings that occurred throughout each movie. With the main exorcism over and done with in the first scene, the rest of it turns into a mystery thriller where the two main characters, Ed and Lorraine Warren, are left finding evidence to convict someone of demonic possession. Take the first Conjuring movie for example, the entire movie is shown in the house of a large family who is fighting a demon in their home. Every scene takes place in the home or the property surrounding it. This element created an intense build up as we watch each family member being haunted in the same layout of the home that we become so familiar with by the end of the movie. Whereas in this most recent Conjuring movie, every scene occurs in a new place. With multiple characters to keep track of instead of one single family, the plot became confusing to follow. This along with a consistent change in scenery makes the haunting much less intense. Throughout the movie, the characters visit the homes of multiple families, an old basement, a courthouse, a jail, a dog kennel, a morgue and much more. In context of the plot, the quick change in scenery makes sense, but this was not the right direction to take this movie after the intensity we experienced in the first two.

The plot revolves around solving a murder case. In the beginning of the movie a young boy named David Glatzel is possessed by a demon. An exorcism is performed and while the demon leaves David, it transfers into Arne, the boyfriend of David’s sister. This possession of Arne leads to him killing a man. Arne is arrested and tried for the murder, but he pleas a defense of not guilty by demonic possession. Ed and Lorraine Warren, the two main characters of each Conjuring movie who are paranormal investigators, set out to prove that Arne was possessed at the time of the murder.

It is important to note that all three movies in the Conjuring series are based off true events. This may be a reason why these movies are known to be so scary; knowing that theoretically it could happen to anyone. Although, this also may be the only reason The Conjuring 3 had any scare factor, but how much of it actually happened? It is true that David had an exorcism performed on him, and it is true that Arne showed suspicious symptoms like growling at the time he murdered a man. It is also true that Ed and Lorraine Warren were called in to investigate, but the judge never allowed them to plea with the defense of demonic possession. The part of this movie that truly left a chill down my spine was during the ending credits. While the credits are rolling a live recording of David’s exorcism is played. In the recording demonic laughing and screeching noises are heard and knowing that this recording is real brings a chilling and shocking feeling to anyone who listens.   

Like I said, the plot makes sense, and it is believable because we know it is based on real events. But I’m not convinced that the director’s work took the story in the right direction. Some of the jump scare scenes were drawn out too long. In one scene, Arne is alone in the house and notices a cereal box tipped over. The scene drags on for two minutes where Arne continues to mysteriously walk around. The camera slowly pans the room and zooms into a deep hole in the wall, we are continuously tricked into thinking something will jump out. Finally, a figure is shown behind Arne, but the jump scare is minimal because after two long minutes, I easily became disinterested. There are multiple scenes like this in the movie, some of which will drag out for longer and then cut to a new scene with no jump scare at all leaving the audience hanging in disappointment. The special effects were realistic much like the other Conjuring movies, but one that especially stood out to me was the beginning scene with David Getzel. During his exorcism he contorts his body into unhuman positions and come to find out this was played by a little girl who could contort her body. The face of David was placed on hers with special effects.

While this movie did have promising elements to it, I struggled when comparing it to the previous Conjuring movies. The sudden change in directing threw me for a loop and made the plot extra confusing to follow. Fans waited five years since the release of The Conjuring 2 and excitement was built up by everyone anxious to watch it. With the hype leading up to it, the outcome was disappointing, and fans didn’t get the payoff they were promised. The true story could have been taken in a much stronger direction to fit with the theme of the other Conjuring movies, and unfortunately that didn’t happen in The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Grade: C