Where I Watched It: HBo MAX

English Audio Description?: Yes

Narrated By: Tanzi Alexander

Well, this series takes a sharp decline fast. This one does not care about building any kind of suspense. I’m not even sure it sets up a potential spin-off character like the Nun or Annabelle. it just kind of prolongs the franchise, and makes a cash grab. True, the second and third entries have better audio description, because this actually understands it’s a horror film and tries to translate what is scary about something into the description.

It’s just, i didn’t find this film Scary. We open with our beloved duo, still played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. They show up at a house where a boy is possessed, and try to perform an exorcism, which goes horribly awry. The boys brother pleads the demon to enter him instead, Ed has a heart attack, and we time jump a bit.

Later, the brother from before, ends up killing someone and they use the legal defense that he was possessed. Now it’s up to Edd, recovering from his incident, and Lorraine to prove that the Devil did in fact do it. however, unlike the truth in the first two films, this one is a little less spooky, and a little more stupid. I felt like this one was really stretching at times, trying to make this convoluted plot about a cult, some totems left behind, and a retired Priest who may or may not have the answers.

It just wasn’t scary. At a point, it just becomes the Newmans, so any fear of them dying is a stretch. No one thinks this real life couple will die in this entry, so any danger they might supposedly be in is irrelevant. The only person potentially in danger is the guy locked in prison, trying to prove the devil made him do it, and the creepy scenes around him are just not that creepy.

It’s not terrible. The film has some ideas, it just isn’t sure what to do with them. James wan seemingly has given up on any kind of suspense building, and just hits you over the head. Jump scares aren’t effective. There was a twist in the third act that kinda worked for me, and the fact that there’s always some basis in reality about these films and the cases behind them makes it interesting, but for most Conjuring fans, we could have stopped at 2. or even just never made a sequel.

I’m not recommending this title, so if you do end up watching it, the devil did in fact make you do it.

Final Grade: C-