Whenever you see “based on a true story” before a horror film, it all of a sudden becomes scarier to watch. The Conjuring universe is filled with true stories from Ed and Lorraine Warren’s life as they protect others from demonic creatures. 

In the latest Conjuring movie, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” the Warrens are doing something that has never been done before: claiming demonic possession as a defense in the court of law.

The story follows Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) as he offers the Devil inside of him from David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard). Then, Johnson and his girlfriend Debbie Glatzel (Sarah Catherine Hook) are living with Debbie’s boss, Bruno (Ronnie Gene Blevins) as Johnson starts to act up and the Devil begins to take over.

Johnson murders Bruno during a period of possession, and Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorranie Warren (Vera Farmiga) want Johnson to claim to be innocent during court for being under possession.

Throughout the film, the Warrens discover Johnson was the second person to be put under a curse, and that the curse needs three victims to be completed. Fighting for both their lives and Arne’s, the Warrens must fight within themselves to make it out of this situation alive.

Farmiga and Wilson are the heart of The Conjuring films and their performances each time are worth the watch. You can tell how much effort they put into every film, and it pays off every time.

This movie had a lot to offer with Ed and Lorraine’s background, which was very heartfelt. This is something viewers have been asking for and “The Conjuring” delivered. However, in some moments it was a little too much and shifted focus from the Devil to their relationship.

What bugged me most about the plot was the ending. While it is understood that Ed is also cursed at this point and the attention is shifted to him, there was no need for the “final fight” between the Devil and Lorraine to be so romanticized.

This movie stands out among the other Conjuring movies because of its demon. In the past, the demon was more defined, such as Annabelle or the Nun, more specific to that film. In this one, the demon was just referred to as the Devil. This was a change up in the Conjuring universe that can make it harder for this film to have a prequel like the others did. 

The film kept the audience invested with tension without over-relying on jump scares. It seemed more along the lines of a thriller movie rather than horror — there was more tension this time around compared to the other films. While “The Conjuring” containing Annabelle will always be the favorite in my heart, this film is way better than “The Conjuring 2.”

The end credit scene with the actual audio recording of David Glatzel’s exorcism was a nice surprise and addition.

The consistency throughout “The Conjuring” films is something that makes these classics. While they aren’t all connected, they have similar camerawork, lighting and music throughout all the films to add certain missing connections. While it was obvious “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” wasn’t directed by James Wan like the others, it still lived up the high standards for this horror series. 

The Conjuring universe it still going strong and has a bright future ahead. Since not every movie needs to be connected, it leaves open to what story can happen next. The timelines of the prequels and the main films aren’t even in order. 

I will be looking forward to the next Conjuring movie, and I hope Wan comes back to direct it.

4 /5 stars