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Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Michael Chaves and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Rated R (for terror, violence and some disturbing images). Running time: 111 minutes. Opens Friday at local theaters and on HBO Max. Do you need to see the first two “Conjuring” movies to fully grasp the demonic goings-on in “The Devil Made Me Do It”? Nah. It’s essentially a stand-alone film, though it doesn’t really stand so much as it wobbles and careens all over the place before exploding in an overwrought orgy of grotesque images, religious psychobabble and second-rate CGI nonsense. Set in 1981, “The Devil Made Me Do It” opens with a pre-title sequence that’s a pure homage, a.k.a. ripoff, of “The Exorcist.” Veteran paranormal sleuths Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson in period-piece sideburns and Vera Farmiga sporting the unfortunate hairdo and fashions of the time) are teaming up with an overmatched priest to perform an exorci
James Wan was really onto something when he brought the Warrens to the big screen with
The Conjuring. Wan may not have known it at the time, but he was launching one of the most successful horror franchises ever, and the secret to the series success remains the ghost-hunting couple Ed and Lorraine Warren, as played by
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The Warrens were real people who claimed to be real paranormal investigators, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest they were delusional at best or downright frauds at worst. No matter. We’re not dealing with the