This Three-quel that came out a few years ago was honestly better than the second installment in 2016 for this series, but it still didn't match up to the amazing composition of that first film in 2013.
This third film follows Ed and Lorraine Warren, infamous paranormal detectives at this point, as they look into the case of Arne Johnson, who, supposedly, killed a colleague of his while possessed, and attempted to use that as a Not Guilty defense in a court of law.
This film is based on the events surrounding the case of the very real Arne Johnson in 1981 Connecticut, who stabbed his landlord to death in February of that year, and who subsequently claimed in court that he was possessed at the instance of the crime.
Lorraine and Ed came to support him, vocalizing in the media, attempting to prove his claims, but, long story short:
"His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law. Johnson was subsequently convicted, though he served only five years of a ten to twenty-year sentence." - Wiki
Now, I'm not going to poo poo on Arne here, because supposedly he stabbed this guy in the process of defending a nine year old child from this landlord dude grabbing at her. This was not depicted in the film, for whatever reason, but this has me seeing the story differently. Click the link right there to learn more.
Back to the film.
Honestly? It was aaaalmost there for me. If it had focused more on Arne and less on Ed's fragile heart (literally, he's almost having a heart-attack throughout the whole film), and more on the family dealing with Arne's struggles, I probably would have been more interested. YES, Ed and Lorraine are the staple of this series, but after a while, I miss the very real fear that the normal family members experience throughout the haunting. Because I felt like there was not a clear explanation in this film for WHY the witch was doing what she was doing, I didn't care too much. This which, whoever she was, was nothing like the powerful and frightening opponent of Bathsheba from the first film.
The composition of this film also had me less interested. The constant back and forth between the visions and the crime and then the second crime, and then Ed's pills, and then back to Arne; it just felt like it was all over the place. I think that first film held my attention so much better because the pacing was a slow burn, and we discovered things slows, just like everyone else in the family did.
-Until Next Week,
B
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