"Conjuring-3: By the will of the devil" is weaker than the previous parts. But it can still scare

On June 10, the third part of the horror series "The spell». The first pictures of this franchise were shot by the famous James Wang. Then the story grew into a whole cinematic universe: there were three parts of "The Curse of Annabelle", as well as "The Curse of the Nun" and "The Curse of the Weeping One."

The new film continues the story of The Conjuring protagonists Ed and Lorraine Warren. However, due to the busyness of James Wang, Michael Chavez became the director. He made his debut under the supervision of Wang in the spin-off "Curse of the Weeping", after which he entrusted the newcomer with the third part of the main series.

This change partly influenced the integrity of the picture and the visual range. But the new "Conjuring" adequately continues the ideas of the first films, and sometimes really scares.

Fictional events with real characters

In 1981, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren performed a ceremony exorcism over an eight year old boy. During the procedure, the evil inside the child almost killed one of the heroes. But then Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor) intervened and suggested that the demon move into his body.

A few months later, Arne, in a fit of obsession, kills his girlfriend's employer. While the young man is awaiting trial, Ed and Lorraine decide to help the investigation and prove that the devil pushed the suspect to commit the crime.

One of the most amazing things about The Conjuring films is the real foundation of these stories. Of course, in the modern world, few people already believe in demonic possession or cursed objects. And the activities of the Warrens are called exclusively fraud.

But both the Perrons from the first part and the Hodgson from the second existed in reality. And the murders in Amityville and the cursed toy Annabelle became legends long before the MCU "The Conjuring". By the way, in reality, the doll looks likeReal ‘Annabelle’ story shared by Lorraine Warren at Milford’s Lauralton Hall /
New haven register not as scary as in the film adaptation.

Likewise, the Arne Johnson case is real and very well known. Now it is interesting, at least from the standpoint of his defense in court. Lawyer really tried to prove to the investigation that the accused committed a crime, being possessed by the devil. And it seems that this partly influenced the jury.

However, in the new "Conjuring" this story is relegated to the background. The plot focuses more on the events that the scriptwriters came up with directly. Namely, in search of a mysterious cult by the Warrens that summoned the demon. This distinguishes the film from the previous parts: it seems that the obsession itself is secondary here.

On the other hand, the plot looks even more interesting in some moments. The first two "Conjures" were built in the same way: the Warrens come to the accursed house and try to deal with the spirits. Here, the story is presented in the form of a mystical detective story: the heroes are trying to figure out the connection between various crimes and find the root cause of the problem.

A story about people, not about spirits

As in the first films, a significant part of the action is devoted not so much to the war against evil as to the relationship of the Warrens themselves. In this regard, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga were her main advantages at the start of the franchise. It was the actors who made the story more personal and touching, playing not just exorcists, but a loving married couple. No wonder James Wang then took Wilson into almost every film he made. And the brief appearance of the characters in the third "The Curse of Annabelle" provided half of the film's success.

In the new "The Conjuring", Wilson and Farmiga look even more touching. There is a genuine concern for each other between their characters on the screen. Ed is afraid for his wife and asks her to stop dangerous activities. But at the same time, he understands that no one else can cope with such a burden. And she, after her husband's injury at the beginning of the film, wants to protect him from dangers. We can say that in the genre of family movies "The Conjuring" works even better than in the form of horror.

The only oddity that will confuse fans is the main characters' daughter Judy. In the first two parts she was played by Sterling Jerins. In the third "The Curse of Annabelle," the actress was changed to McKenna Grace. And now Jerins has been brought back. They tried to explain it‘Annabelle Comes Home’ Director Gary Dauberman on Exposing His Kid to Horror and the Fate of ‘Swamp Thing’ / SlashFilm the age of the performers, but still the confusion remained.

In general, the plot of the new picture is dedicated to people, not ghosts. Arne Johnson's line emphasizes his relationship with his girlfriend. And even the denouement tells more about human suffering, and not about the invasion of spirits. This approach ensures more engagement of the viewers. After all, scaring with special effects is not too difficult, but not everyone will be able to make them fall in love with horror characters.

Standard, but still working feed

The third part of "The Conjuring" is built on the same structure as the first two films. The action begins with a secondary case, which gives impetus to further events and affects the lives and fears of the Warrens themselves. And here everyone will decide for himself: whether to accuse the authors of self-repetition or to adhere to the idea “it is not necessary to change what works”. You can remember as much as you like that a child with unnaturally broken joints was shown in The Exorcist. But this scene is still impressive and scary.

But the visual series of the new "Conjuring" is different from the previous parts. This is to be expected, since James Wang is a true master of aesthetic horror. He also created “Saw"And" Astral ". With the arrival of Michael Chavez as director, the presentation became more straightforward, and suspense gave way to simple screamers.

Instead of Oscar nominee Don Burgess, who has repeatedly worked with Van, his less experienced son Michael, who directed The Curse of Crying and the third Annabelle. Therefore, long shots that helped to feel the volume of the room almost disappeared in the production. Wang and the elder Burgess used similar techniques in The Conjuring-2, and even in Aquaman.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the visual range of the new picture is weak and even more so bad. It's just different, a little simpler. The film has a lot of subjective manual camera footage, which helps to immerse yourself in the action better. In addition, beautiful plans of nature often flash and the atmosphere of the early eighties is perfectly conveyed.

And the creators clearly tried to build color grading in the same way as in the first parts. This is precisely what Chavez and Burgess Jr. lacked in The Curse of the Weeping One. The transition from the ordinary world to the mystical one is immediately noticeable by the cold palette. In scenes in the forest and in the morgue, editing and color alone create a disturbing sensation. Therefore, the film may not look so aesthetically pleasing, but it fulfills its main task: it plunges the viewer into the world of demons and makes them periodically squeeze into a chair.

After James Wan left his post as director, the world of "The Conjuring" will definitely need more vivid and memorable examples so that interest in the franchise does not fade away. But "The Conjuring 3: By the Will of the Devil" can be called a worthy part of the MCU. The tape loses as a production to the first films, but it looks much better than "The Curse of Annabelle" or "The Curse of Weeping". The picture has great working screamers and a touching emotional story. This is quite enough for a single viewing.