I just finished this as well and I’ll echo dex’s comments.

They took the series in a different direction and I suppose it could have worked with a more competent director but Michael Chaves just doesn’t have the chops that James Wan does.

There were a few creepy/scary moments but too often the movie relies on choppy “visions”. Almost to the point of not being able to tell what was supposed to be happening in real time and what was a vision.

Luckily, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s chemistry keeps the movie afloat and the filmmakers made a smart choice by focusing on them for the majority of the movie instead of the (rather bland) possessed family.

It’s worth a watch on HBOmax but not really theater worthy.

Well that’s a bummer. I was planning on going to see this tomorrow afternoon.

Wilson and Farmiga deserved better than amateurish direction of this turd of a screenplay. Very disappointing.

I was surprised how much I liked 2. I mean I liked 1 too. With Lilli Taylor, right? But was really surprised 2 was as effective as it was. Will def give this a try, hopefully, this weekend…

Agreed. Wilson and Farmiga elevated this to a higher quality level. If it wasn’t for them this would fit squarely in The Nun or The Curse of La Llorona territory.

Even with them doing their best, they could only manage to lift this to slightly above mediocre.

This was not much better than La Llorona. It also relied on loud cues and music to scare you than genuine scares.

I actually haven’t watched any of the films the Conjuring universe in full beyond the first one (think I’ve seen bits and pieces of a couple of the Annabelle films). I liked the original, but I was kind of done after just the one, and have been somewhat surprised how many sequels/spin-offs have come from it.

I liked the first two but this wasn’t great. Bummer we don’t even get to see any of the famous trial or what the Warrens told the jury after all that.

I was really disappointed with this one. I'm a big fan of the Conjuring Universe, especially Conjuring 1 & 2. This is probably the movie I was most looking forward to all year. Unfortunately, it was weak and forgettable.

I love the Warren characters. But they tried to do something new, and it didn't work. I was looking forward to a spooky haunted house movie, and instead I got Exorcist X-Files. It wasn't scary. The story was dull. And I hated the witchy stuff.

Yeah, I didn’t necessarily want a courtroom drama but considering the whole movie is centered around that guy’s trial, it would have been nice to see some sort or resolution around it. We are told at the beginning that the Prosecution is going for the death penalty and that the Warrens are this guy’s only hope between life and death and then we see absolutely nothing as to what the Warrens presented to the court.

Also, what the hell happened to the rest of the family? We see mom and dad for 5 minutes at the beginning of the movie, then a few minutes later they make a very brief appearance at a family BBQ, and then they disappear for the rest of the movie.

There were two intertwined stories this movies was trying to tell, neither one of them was particularly strong, then the filmmakers got so mucked up with both of them that neither story ended up being presented all that well.

I forgot that the parents disappeared. Maybe they were in the courtroom?
I didn't need the movie to be a courtroom drama either, but this case was really famous at the time and we get nothing except a byline at the end and a real-life clip where Tom Snyder says the movie title. The case was known as the "Devil Made Me Do It" case and it's why the Warrens became well-known.
This movie is kind of like if you made a biopic about Clarence Darrow, and instead of making Inherit The Wind, you just have him meet John Scopes, then spend the bulk of the film fighting with witches and the ghost of Charles Darwin and then yadda-yadda'ing the trial. It's a choice.

At least Chavis is such a visionary director. Check out this highly original and imaginative shot of when the exorcist arrives :

Also I kept wondering about where they were holding Arnie. He’s facing a Death Penalty murder charge and they are letting him roam the hallways, mop and clean in the mess area, and he gets to stay unguarded in the prison hospital, getting held and cared for by his hot girlfriend?

I don't think the direction of this movie was well thought out.

Where's Arnie!?!?!

I noticed that too. I supposed if he was a complete mess like they showed, I can see them maybe holding him in the medical unit but they wouldn’t give him any jobs around the jail, and he most certainly wouldn’t be allowed to have his girlfriend by his side the whole time.

This is pulling about $23.5m for the weekend and may beat A Quiet Place II by a small amount for 1st place.

This was alright...definitely the worst of the 3. To be fair, I got really stoned halfway through the movie and nothing made sense

Did the devil make you do that too? I might give this one more watch to see if my views change. However, I never went back to the new Mortal Kombat or Kong vs Godzilla again, despite being able to watch them at home.

All of this. The beginning showed some potential, but there was no build up, no intensity, no nothing. I love these actors, but they had nothing to work with. I don’t blame the director for most of it since there wasn’t much to work with in terms of the script and story.

I got shithouse drunk watching 1&2. I guess I’ll watch this one tomorrow.

By far the weakest of the three. As stated, Wilson and Farmiga elevated things. I enjoyed watching this mainly when it focused on them, even though much of the story was rather meh. Also, I kept waiting for the courtroom stuff to kick in. I wasn't necessarily expecting a full on trial or anything. Well, maybe I was. I don't know. I figured something from the trial. I think the title of the movie made me expect it even more.

Anyway, this is definitely one of those movies that gets worse as the credits rolls and you think of different things, but I'd still say it's worth a watch, especially if you have HBO Max. Meh.

What a colossal disappointment. I love the first 2 films, and have enjoyed the expanded universe movies for what they are. This was my most anticipated movie of the year, and I dont know if I have been this let down since Crystal Skull.

Farminga and Wilson are the only thing keeping this movie somewhat together. It was just boring and not scary at all. I am ok with them not wanting to do another haunted house movie, but man, not like this.

I was completely sober throughout the entire movie and nothing made sense.

Watched it yesterday and thought it was mediocre. The first one is still the best. Part 2 sucked, so just because Wan is directing doesn't mean he would have done better with this one. Hell, he co-wrote this one, too, and look how it turned out.

I liked 2 almost as much as 1. It says story by Wan, but this is mostly about the case of Arne Johnson, so I doubt he contributed anything significant on the writing of this one.