The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Short description
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It follows paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they take on a case that pushes them further than anything in their previous work. A young boy's soul is at stake, and the investigation leads the couple toward a murder trial in which the accused becomes the first person in United States history to claim demonic possession as a defense. Michael Chaves directed the film, the second feature in his directing career after The Curse of La Llorona and the third instalment in the Conjuring series. David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick wrote the screenplay, and James Wan and Peter Safran produced. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return as Lorraine and Ed Warren, with Sterling Jerins as their daughter Judy, Ruairí O'Connor as Arne Cheyne Johnson, Sarah Catherine Hook as Debbie Glatzel and Julian Hilliard as David Glatzel.
The production had a budget of 39 million USD and earned 206 million USD worldwide, a strong return for a horror release. On IMDb it holds 6.2/10 from 168,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.3/10 from 6,714 votes, and film critics gave it 5.8/10 across 253 reviews. Chaves went on to direct The Nun II in 2023 and The Conjuring: Last Rites in 2025, continuing his association with the franchise.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Ed and Lorraine Warren meet the lawyer Arnie, Ed tells her that there had already been two attempts in the UK to build a defense for the accused on the basis of possession. In one case, the defense insisted on the accused being possessed, but he was acquitted on the grounds of being found legally insane. So, possession was indeed used in the defense, but it was by no means the decisive argument for the accused's acquittal.
- In the prologue to the film, Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively) perform an exorcism, and in one shot, viewers see Father Gordon (played by Steve Coulter) getting out of a taxi. This is a reference to the 1973 horror film “The Exorcist,” directed by William Friedkin.
- The working title of the film was “The Conjuring 3,” but it was changed to “The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It” to tie the title to the 1981 case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who killed a man and claimed that the devil made him commit the crime. This was the first case in US legal practice where the defense relied on the claim of demonic possession.
- An early version of the film featured a different demonic entity – a tall, ghost-like figure resembling a cowboy, whose appearance was accompanied by the clinking of spurs. After test screenings, the idea of showing this entity on screen was abandoned.
- The prologue to the film shows an unsuccessful attempt to exorcise a malevolent entity. Viewers see the torment of eight-year-old David (played by Julian Hilliard), who is literally contorting under the demon’s control. According to director Michael Chaves, a twelve-year-old acrobat, Emerald Gordon Wolf, was used for this scene. She was filmed without special effects – aside from the overlay of Hilliard’s face.
- The character of Arne was included in the list of characters even in the first draft of the script. Screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick spoke with Arne and his wife Debbie (played by Rory O’Connor and Sarah Catherine Hook, respectively) and incorporated their stories, as well as those of other characters, into the script. The script was subsequently revised to include stories from other individuals with whom the Warrens had interacted.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
