The Conjuring 3, subtitled The Devil Made Me Do It, plays a rather creepy tape recording over the end credits, and here's its origin story. While the validity of their various exploits has been hotly debated over the years, there's no doubt that Ed and Lorraine Warren were major figures in the paranormal investigation field, specializing in demonic possession cases. Their stories have been backed up by some who were present for them and have been refuted by others, but taken at face value, the Warrens' journeys are terrific fodder for a horror franchise.
The Conjuring franchise, which has so far encompassed three mainline entries, three Annabelle spinoffs, and two other one-offs, has hauled in nearly $2 billion worldwide, and may well cross that mark by the time The Devil Made Me Do It ends its theatrical run. That's assuming also releasing on HBO Max at the same time doesn't hurt it. Like the prior Conjuring movies, The Conjuring 3 is based on a real case investigated by the Warrens, this one involving possession, curses, Satanists, murder, and even a little courtroom drama.
While The Conjuring 3 doesn't have a post-credits scenes to offer patient fans, the credits do begin with a audio recording, one that actually shines a light on the real-life events surrounding the alleged possession of David Glatzel. As usual, truth can sometimes be as strange, or stranger, than fiction. The audio recording heard over The Conjuring 3's end credits is the real-life tape of what happened during young David Glatzel's exorcism, which was of course dramatized into the opening scene of The Devil Made Me Do It.
Some suitably demonic sounds can be heard, although it does seem like David's parents took a much more active role in the proceedings in reality, whereas those functions were shifted over to stars Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) for dramatic effect in the film. It's claimed that Arne Johnson did indeed ask the demon possessing David to take him instead, although that's not heard clearly on the recording.
This being an audio tape and not video, it's hard to really get a bead on how close the filmmakers hewed to the real exorcism when adapting it for film. One assumes things like David twisting his body around backwards was a film invention at the very least, even if giving the benefit of the doubt to the Warrens' version of events. Still, if watching the case of David Glatzel's alleged possession and the subsequent, allegedly demonically-influenced murder committed by Arne Johnson be played out as part of The Conjuring 3 didn't make viewers interested enough to do their own research into the real case, hearing the admittedly unnerving audio of the exorcism will likely do so.