by Gill Pringle
If James Wan arguably restarted the horror genre with his massively successful Conjuring franchise – grossing more than US$1.8 billion at the global box-office – then he’s changing the plot all over again with his seventh film in this universe, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
“I wanted to move out of the haunted house sub-genre but keep all the scares, and The Devil Made Me Do It plays like a classic police detective thriller, except the detectives are Ed and Loraine Warren,” says the Aussie filmmaker.
Of course, he’s referring to real-life husband-and-wife paranormal sleuths, Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose case files have spawned Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun and Annabelle Comes Home and now, a third installment in the Conjuring series with The Devil Made Me Do It.
As long as five years ago, Wan began to have conversations with his filmmaking partners about the next journey for the Warrens – portrayed on screen by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farminga – believing his two supernatural superheroes were constrained by the “haunted house” genre.
“I remember saying to Patrick and Vera on the set of Conjuring 2, how I wanted to explore the world where Ed and Lorraine helped police solve crimes. I wanted the third movie to feel very different,” recalls Wan.
The only catch is that, after directing the first two Conjuring films, Wan has today handed over the reins to Michael Chaves.
After directing The Curse of la Llorona for Wan two years ago, Chaves was surprised when Wan first contacted him to helm this third Conjuring film.
“But it was a dream come true,” Chaves tells us. “I’m a big fan of the Conjuring films. James is the modern master of horror, so to take the reins on this world he created is both exciting and daunting. There’s a huge responsibility not just to James, but to the fans, to the franchise, and to the characters he created. That was not lost on me.”
Chaves believes one of the reasons Wan may have tapped him to direct this latest Conjuring film is because of their shared love of David Fincher’s classic psychological crime thriller, Se7en, the two filmmakers discussing that film on the set of la Llorona and later serving as a reference point in the evolution of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
In order to achieve that goal, Wan, producer Peter Safran and screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick turned to one of the Warrens’ most famous case files. Ripped from the headlines, the notorious “The Devil Made Me Do It” case centres on the first U.S. murder trial where demonic possession was used as a legal defense, presenting the Warrens with one of their most chilling and shocking encounters.
Presenting the perfect opportunity for the Warrens to push their skills to the limit, they risk their lives to prove the innocence of the accused and the existence of evil forces.
“For everyone involved, this was the darkest story the Warrens were involved in. They put everything on the line for the accused, Arne Johnson,” says Chaves who cast Irish actor Ruairi O’Connor in the key role of Johnson.
“This is the story of how Arne Johnson, a 19-year-old young man, became possessed by a demon. He murdered his landlord, and he went to trial. Arne is a complex role, layered with a lot of really powerful emotions like regret, anguish and anger, all mixed with fear,” explains Chaves.
“You have to find empathy for your character,” adds O’Connor whose previous roles include The Postcard Killings and Teen Spirit, also portraying a young Henry VIII in TV series, The Spanish Princess. “And you can’t judge your character. You get to where you can really understand their point of view. So, what I’m saying is, I was literally possessed for this. I managed to get myself to that cursed place.”
The complex legal plot line also provided the filmmakers with the perfect opportunity to send the Warrens out into the world at large, engaging with the police and investigating the sinister reasons that led to a horrific crime.
“The characters of Ed and Lorraine Warren are beloved,” says Wan. “People love Patrick and Vera playing them and their cinematic interpretation of this real-life couple.”
Lest audiences mistakenly believe this to be an old-fashioned detective story, then Chaves thrusts his audience right into the Conjuring universe from the very first frame with a bone-chilling exorcism, based on the Warrens’ original recordings.
“Honestly, that opening exorcism scene is something that had a big impact on everyone who saw it. They really love it and talk about it because it was based on something real. And I think that spirit was in that room,” says Chaves who, admittedly, is a big fan of William Friedkin’s 1973 classic, The Exorcist.
“I’m a huge fan of the original Exorcist and absolutely wanted to have a nod to that. It’s funny because it’s actually a combo homage to both The Exorcist and Psycho, the image where Mother is in the window,” he says.
“I think in the traditional scary movie stories, there’s usually some sort of baggage or supernatural thing that tags along with the production but, with this, the opening scene is based on a real exorcism of this eight-year-old boy. And there’s actually a recording of that which we play at the end of movie, Conjuring style, where we show the real people that were in it.
“So, we had the recording and audio of that exorcism, and I thought it would be a great way to get the actors into that headspace, if we played it before we shot it. So, we’re in that dining room and everybody’s standing around, listening to it. At first, I just thought it was shameless director trick to try and get people into the mood. But, as it played, the mood shifted in the room,” recalls the director who, as with all the Conjuring franchise, began production with a blessing of the set.
“And it was the beginning of the day, and everyone’s positive and excited to be on set but, as that played, I think just the weight of it really landed on people, and you could feel the temperature shift in the room as we were all looking around at each other and then also, a chill.
“You could be a full tilt skeptic or a full believer but, wherever you are on that spectrum, when you listen to that recording it’s really hard to deny the emotional intensity that this family actually experienced.”
But, perhaps even more scary for Chaves, was the prospect of continuing James Wan’s baby.
“I would say that the experience is just like the movie itself – equal parts thrilling and terrifying. This is a franchise that was started by the master of horror himself. And I was just like everybody else, when I got that script and first started imagining the possibility, I could be directing a Conjuring movie, half of me was thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to direct a Conjuring movie’. And the other half was, ‘Wait a second, James Wan isn’t going to direct the next Conjuring movie?’” he laughs.
“Which I think is the unanimous feeling from James’ Conjuring fans out there. ‘What? The master of horror is not returning to the franchise he created?’
“So, even though I’m joking now, it’s not something I’ve taken lightly. I’m a huge fan as well. This is one of the greatest horror franchises around; that maybe has ever been. And I’m really honoured to be a part of it and appreciate the tremendous responsibility.”
Chaves takes comfort from the fact that this new story is so unlike its predecessors, hoping that his own efforts will not suffer from comparison.
“I think what’s cool is that this case is so different and takes the Warrens into places that we’ve never seen before. It’s a big departure from the haunted house format. So, hopefully, it will be hard to compare it to the other movies because we are in such uncharted territory while keeping that Conjuring spirit alive and staying true to that.”
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is in cinemas June 3, 2021
