A new video for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It explains the true story the horror film is based on. The Conjuring franchise has quickly expanded since it started in 2013 with James Wan's original film. In the following years, Warner Bros. released a direct sequel to the first movie, three Annabelle spin-offs, The Nun, focusing on the origins of The Conjuring 2's villain, and The Curse of La Llorona. Now, Warner Bros. is returning to the original series focusing on one of Ed and Lorraine Warren's most famous cases.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is stepping away from the haunted house formula and instead focusing on the murder trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. "The Devil Made Me Do It" case gained massive media attention after Johnson claimed that he was possessed by a demon when he killed his landlord Alan Bono. Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 1981 but was released in 1986 after serving only five years of his 10-20 year sentence.
In a new featurette released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Debbie Johnson tells the true story of her husband's possession. Her story is supplemented by actual newspaper clippings from the Demon Murder Trial as well as scenes from the new movie. The new video for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It can be seen below.
There are dozens of horror movies about demonic possession. However, The Conjuring films stand out because they are based on true stories. The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 were based on the real-life events of the Perron and Hodgson families, respectively, yet Wan did take creative liberties with both stories. The Conjuring 3 director Michael Chaves, who also directed The Curse of La Llorona, will no doubt make changes with his sequel as well, but it's possible his movie will be closer to the actual case.
The main reason for this is because The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It has the support of both Debbie and Arne Johnson. Neither are credited as producers on the sequel, but this featurette makes it clear that the studio is involving them throughout production as both can be seen in the video. With that in mind, the trailer for The Conjuring 3 involved a Satanism storyline and a waterbed altercation between David Glatzel and a demon, neither of which had previously been reported in the Warrens' case files. So for now, there's no telling how historically accurate The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will be, but behind-the-scenes videos like this still give viewers an idea of what will be in store for them on June 4.
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures