The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It - The scoop and digest

For the first time in main series, James Wan steps aside for Michael Chaves to direct, whose debut was the lamentable The Curse of La Llorona.

Patrick Wilson - Ed Warren

Vera Farmiga - Lorraine Warren

Ruairi O'Connor - Arne Johnson

Sarah Catherine Hook - Debbie Glatzel

Julian Hilliard - David Glatzel

Summary

On 18 July, 1981, the Warrens were called to document the exorcism of eight year old David Glatzel.

Before Arne Johnson convinces demon to leave kid alone, Ed suffers a heart attack.

Opening surely pays homage to The Exorcist.  When Father Gordon's taxi drops him off, shot closely mirrors Father Merrin outside the MacNeil residence.

Not long after, a demonic woman attacks Arne, leading him to murder Bruno Sauls by stabbing dog kennel manager no less than 22 times.

At the trial (which began on 19 September), he pleaded not guilty by reason of demonic possession.

With Arne facing the death penalty, the Warrens embark on an evidence gathering mission.

Staple diet

While approach of procedural investigation is different, it's still very much a Conjuring film.

Centring around a witches totem, baddie is Father Kastner's daughter Lola, aka the Occultist, who he raised in secret.

As demon was summoned, in order for curse to be broken, the altar where it was cast must be destroyed.

Supernatural pie slices some decent (albeit predictable) jump scares, but film is most effective when a fat corpse is reanimated.

It's nice that Lorraine's clairvoyance is explored in depth, but I couldn't help comparing principle to video game Murdered: Soul Suspect.

Mopping things up.

On 24 November, 1981, Arne was convicted on the charge of manslaughter and served five years.  During which, he married Debbie.