{"id":119494,"date":"2021-05-28T06:43:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T05:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=119494"},"modified":"2021-06-03T08:24:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T07:24:16","slug":"the-conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it-a-new-chapter-for-ed-and-lorraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/cinema\/the-conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it-a-new-chapter-for-ed-and-lorraine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. A new chapter for Ed and Lorraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is the darkest <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movie yet,\u201d director Michael Chaves proclaims when we sit down to talk to him about the latest movie in the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> universe, <\/span>The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It<\/span><\/i>. \u201cI know that might sound like hyperbole, but I just showed the finished film to Vera [Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren] and her husband, and she agreed!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s little doubt that this may well be the darkest <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movie, as this installment is based on one of America\u2019s most infamous murder cases, that of young Arne Johnson. It is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the defendant’s claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime. A case in which the Warren\u2019s testified for the defendant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the most controversial case the Warrens ever got involved with,\u201d Chaves nods. \u201cThe details of the case are really extraordinary. The movie starts off with the exorcism of this young boy, David Glatzel. A lot of people do know of \u2018the devil made me do it\u2019 case, the Arne Johnson case, but they don’t know that it goes beyond that the Warrens being called in for this young boy who has become possessed by a demon.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the movie starts not on the apparent possession of Arne Johnson, but that of his young brother in law David Glatzel – a character also based on real life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe movie opens with this Catholic-approved exorcism of this eight year old boy, and it’s really harrowing,\u201d Chaves explains. \u201cWe actually even have a recording of it, which we play over the end credits. My wife can’t even listen to it, she heard it once and she was like \u2018that is so unsettling\u2019. The exorcism of this young child goes horribly wrong and that basically sets into motion events for the film. I’m excited for people to see the very first scene with our exorcism because there are events in there which basically give you a sense of where the movie is going and the kind of the tragic trajectory of this story. But it\u2019s also super fun, don\u2019t get me wrong!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The film (and the real life case) then goes on to a gruesome murder: \u201cArnie Johnson was accused of the murder of his girlfriend’s landlord, and he ultimately went to trial,\u201d Peter Safran explains, who\u2019s been a producer of the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> films since its very first installment back in 2013. \u201cIt was the first trial in which the defence was \u2018not guilty\u2019 by reason of demonic possession.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very real life consequences here, with no disrespect to the other films or the other families involved in the first two <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movies,\u201d nods Patrick Wilson, who plays Ed Warren, one half of our favourite paranormal investigative duo. \u201cArne Johnson was on trial for killing a man. So that had real life consequences. It made headlines and was a very big deal in 1981. So automatically the story becomes more of a thriller. Why did he do it? Was he indeed possessed by the devil if so, how did that happen? Was anyone else involved? So it becomes a thriller as well as a horror movie. So it has a much different, darker feel than the first two.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Patrick Wilson (pictured above as Ed Warren) says this has a much darker feel than the previous Conjuring<\/em> films.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By basing the latest film on a wider court case rather than a paranormal event in one specific location means this is a very new situation for paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. It also means they\u2019re let off the leash a little and are able to explore the world outside of a haunted house\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we decided to make another <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movie we knew we wanted it to feel different than the first two,\u201d says Safran. \u201cThe first two basically take place in one location, which is a haunted, possessed house. This one we wanted to really switch it up and send Ed and Lorraine on an investigation, so think a supernatural <\/span>Seven<\/span><\/i> or a supernatural <\/span>Silence Of The Lambs<\/span><\/i>. This has really thrust it out into the larger world on an investigation in a very different fashion than we’ve seen in the first two movies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first few <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movies were much more contained,\u201d Wilson agrees. \u201cThis is really about following clues and following the path. Both Ed and Lorraine, following their different clues to figure out what is going on because they are certainly a bit baffled at the beginning of the movie as to the causes of the supernatural events that are occurring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By sending the Warrens out into the world, we also see a new side of our favourite demon-busting couple. That of detectives in their own right, solving crimes along with the police. It also shows their individual talents, with Lorraine\u2019s connection to the spirit world and Ed as the stalwart partner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re in the business of spiritual rescue work, and that rescue takes them beyond the haunted house, to determine the root of the problem,\u201d explains Vera Farmiga who plays the conduit to the spiritual world, Lorraine Warren. \u201cThey leave the confines of the house that was consistent in [<\/span>The<\/span><\/i> Conjuring<\/span><\/i>] <\/span>one<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>two<\/span><\/i> to fully be able to sever these connections and disconnect the dark connections. It sends them into the trenches, boots to the ground, trying to determine that. The detective work sort of comes with the criteria for demonology. You also get to see Lorraine tap into different aspects of her clairvoyancey, we see her investigate this crime by using other psychic abilities that we haven’t quite seen yet in the first two <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> films. It’s not only clairvoyance and telepathy but remote viewing and pre-cognition and psychometry all these other aspects to her gift.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey go deeper and darker in the story, trying to find out why this happened,\u201d Wilson adds. \u201cI think one of the things that’s fascinating is, we’ve dealt with exorcisms before, we’ve dealt with possession [but] this is a totally different beast. Quite literally a totally different beast. It gets deeper and deeper so the end seems so far away, they cannot figure out where the end is. I think that’s what the struggle is, trying to find the end result to something that may not have an ending is a part of this very dark journey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Warrens go deeper and darker into the story to find out why this happened…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This latest installment has also taken the Warrens firmly out of their previous Seventies setting and into the Eighties, a decade which brings its own unique problems: \u201cIn the early Eighties, there was this string of satanic murders, all disconnected or, you know, possibly connected, but that\u2019s for other people to determine that,\u201d Chaves winks. \u201cThese murder cases where people would claim demonic possession or they would claim that the devil speaking through dogs made them murder people. It was a really unique period of time, and that phrase, \u2018the devil made me do it\u2019 I think for a lot of people is really an electrically charged phrase.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An integral element of the case is the young man on trial, Arne Johnson played by actor Ruairi O’Connor, who wasn\u2019t overly familiar with the cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren\u2026 \u201cI’ve never actually watched any <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> films,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI thought I had. I\u2019d seen <\/span>Insidious<\/span><\/i><\/a> and actually spent a lot of time on set referencing <\/span>Insidious<\/span><\/i> to Patrick Wilson!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very different role to what I was expecting,\u201d he continues. \u201cI have scenes where I have to perform what are basically mental breakdowns. They are really, really taxing and Michael Chaves put a lot of care and respect for me in that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It is certainly a role that demanded a lot of physicality from the actor: \u201cArne is mentally suffering as he\u2019s possessed and there’s a lot of physical ramifications that go along with that. We had to creatively find ways to make my body suffer. Some of them are stupid, just gulping down air as if I was trying to make myself burp, and gulping down so much air that my insides would be in agony. I\u2019d feel completely nauseous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re thrashing about in the bed (which I do [in the film], I have seizures and fits), they can\u2019t just be general, it needs to be a reaction to something and I had to take some very dark things from my own life and try to channel them through. I\u2019d come home from the set just destroyed in ways I never thought anyone could ever be destroyed. Mentally exhausted, physically sore, but it was so much fun on the other hand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Ruairi O’Connor (picture above as Arne Johnson) put himself through a lot of physical work for the role.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fact that this, like all of the Warrens\u2019 cases within the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> films, is based on real life only adds to its terrifying appeal: \u201cI know that I, as an audience member, am always drawn to things that I know are based on a true story,\u201d Safran reveals. \u201cThere’s something about it that makes it even more extraordinary. It\u2019s far scarier for the audience watching and thinking that this, or at least parts of this, really happened. It makes it much more personal. You leave the theatre like \u2018oh my god, some of these events really happened\u2019 and if it happened to them it could happen to me. So I think the personalisation of it really sinks its hooks into the audience. From my perspective, it makes it much scarier and the fact that Ed and Lorraine are real people who have this real relationship and the real experience of supernatural and paranormal investigation for all these years, that grounding just makes it far more scary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those real life supernatural experiences have even followed the cast and crew to the set: \u201cVera speaks really richly about her paranormal experiences she had during filming of <\/span>The<\/span><\/i> Conjuring<\/span><\/i> and that the set would always be blessed by priests, both before and after filming,\u201d O\u2019Connor reveals. \u201cStuff that we can’t find the scientific basis for, it really helps you find the characters. Even if you know it\u2019s playing with the truth, just seeing it\u2019s based on a true story makes you go \u2018oh wow\u2019. It was [also] a real life romance between Ed and Lorraine, and Patrick and Vera just effortlessly bring that into the film. They have a real chemistry with each other. They\u2019re very good friends and you can really see that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of which, the central relationship to all three of the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> films has been the marriage of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a real beating heart that just adds to the films\u2019 appeal: \u201cI think the most successful horror films are the ones that have great characters,\u201d Safran tells us. \u201cWhether it’s <\/span>The Exorcist<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>The Omen <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>The Conjuring<\/span><\/i> or the <\/span>IT<\/span><\/i> movies, it really comes down to great characters that filmmakers create and bring to the screen. That’s kind of been the magic of the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movies; it\u2019s all rooted in Ed and Lorraine Warren and how Patrick and Vera play them. People come along and I think people would watch a pure drama just of Ed and Lorraine as portrayed by Vera and Patrick, because you really care about the characters, you care about their relationship, and you care about how they protect it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s always the thing that I love about this,\u201d Farmiga adds. \u201cThis franchise is actually healthy for you. To submit to love, it teaches us to yield to love. Ed and Lorraine are a beautiful example that love always wins in the end. It always wins no matter the weight or the intent of the hatred, and that\u2019s a beautiful parable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we’ve always dealt with the<\/span> Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movies as a love story, disguised as a supernatural thriller,\u201d Safran agrees. \u201cI think people will respond to that relationship between Ed and Lorraine, and they want to come back for more to see what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The love story between Ed and Lorraine has always been central to the Conjuring<\/em> films.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Indeed, when the first movie launched back in 2013 it grossed a whopping worldwide total of $319.5 million against a budget of $20 million. After glowing critical response and a plethora of awards, audiences are still keen to see more of Ed and Lorraine and their paranormal cases. It\u2019s an appeal that\u2019s lasted eight years, created numerous spin-offs, and doesn\u2019t seem to be waning any time soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think if I can look at it objectively like a franchise, I can’t think of another horror franchise where you follow the heroes and not the villains,\u201d Wilson says of the series\u2019 longevity. \u201cSo you know that you’re going to get a new case, a new subject, a new villain, a new demon, but at what cost to Ed and Lorraine? Both of them have had these experiences in these films with their own real life consequences, whether it’s the stress to themselves in their own health, or their marriage, or their family, their loved ones. So it really is the perfect formula for wanting to keep coming back because you know you’re going to get a whole new storyline, but you’re going to get familiar characters in that storyline and that’s something that you really don’t see in a horror franchise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, characters and story aside, the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> films are horror movies and with that comes a whole new bunch of scares, so what can we (not) look forward to in the latest installment?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favourite scares has to do with a manifestation of a demon that is specifically curated for Patrick Wilson,\u201d Farmiga says to Patrick. \u201cOne of my favourite moments in the film is your face with your beautiful profile, looking over at me and it’s what you say to me as this thing is about to attack. It\u2019s one of my favourite faces you have ever made!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI only have like four of them!\u201d he responds.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell this is the fifth introduction,\u201d she laughs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe really pride ourselves on crafting original and surprising scare sequences,\u201d Safran adds. \u201cOne of the things that I love most about Michael Chaves, is that this is a natural skill for him. He did it in <\/span>The Curse Of La Llorona<\/span><\/i><\/a>, a horror film that got him his start, but he really just inherently – like James Wan – sees the escalation of these sequences where you build beat upon beat upon beat that escalates into some really great scare. I think that the audience is going to love the different feel that this film has from the prior ones, but they are going to get those scares that will absolutely have them shitting themselves!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJames [Wan] and myself wanted this film to be an expansion of the universe,\u201d Chaves concludes. \u201cUp to this point, the <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> movies have been really successful variations on the haunted house genre, and when I first started talking to James about this, he was like \u2018we’re gonna blow off the doors to the haunted house, you\u2019re going to take the Warrens out into the world, and we’re going to take that <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> experience into places that we’ve never seen\u2019. So there are still what has become defined as <\/span>\u2018The Conjuring<\/span><\/i> scare\u2019 [but] at the same time there are sequences and experiences that really push it further.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think what’s really exciting about the film is defying what you expect from a <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> film, breaking the format,\u201d he says. \u201cI’m excited for people to experience a <\/span>Conjuring<\/span><\/i> film like they’ve never seen before. To experience the mystery that we have. I think it’s just really a dark wild ride and I’m really excited for people to see it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well we\u2019re really excited to watch it! And we can all do so on 28 May when The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It arrives in cinemas\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n