'Conjuring' horror sequel haunted by stiff script and lack of suspense

“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” - ★ ★

You have to admire the consistency of the horror sequel “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.”

It takes a consistently wrong approach to everything: the hokey and overdone visual effects, the sluggish pace, the perfunctory dialogue, the blandly superficial treatment of the two main characters, the cheap jump scares, the escalating silliness of events, and the abject failure to build any genuine sense of danger or suspense.

For anyone keeping track, this marks the seventh entry in the “Conjuring” franchise, consisting of three “Conjuring” titles, three “Annabelle” features and one “The Nun.”

Here, James Wan hands off directing chores to Michael “The Curse of La Llorona” Chaves, whose emphasis on generic spooky visuals dilutes the character-driven narrative that made the original “Conjuring” a welcome addition to the horror genre.

It doesn't help that screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick's laughably stiff dialogue lacks realistic conversational qualities.

“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” quickly reneges on its promising opening, audaciously summoning forth comparisons to the late-night arrival of Father Merrin in “The Exorcist,” minus the “Citizen Kane” steaming window light.

On July 18, 1981, famed Catholic demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (reprised by the once-dynamic duo of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) engage with a demonic presence possessing the soul of 8-year-old David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard).

Under the shaky guidance of Father Gordon (Steve Coulter), the Warrens fight a losing battle against the entity that causes Ed to suffer a heart attack.

Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor), the boyfriend of David's sister Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook), stops the assault by taking a lead from “Exorcist” hero Father Karris: He dares the demon to take him instead.

And it does.

In the following weeks, Arne goes about his daily business, apparently unaffected by the ordeal.

Then, he stabs a man to death, believing him to be a monstrous creature. Arne becomes the first person in American history to enter a not-guilty plea to a murder charge by reason of demonic possession.

The so-called “Demon Murder Trial” begins, with the Warrens front and center in the fight to prove Arne's relative innocence.

“The Devil Made Me Do It” should have borrowed more from “The Exorcist” than it does, mainly its real-world setting that would organically anchor the allegedly true phantasmagorical trappings.

Instead, the movie starts to resemble a poor “Nightmare on Elm Street” sequel overloaded with ultra-dark scenes and hospitals with nobody in them but the main cast. (Did the production save money on light bulbs and extras?)

Curiously, Wilson's Ed takes a passive back seat to Farmiga's Lorraine, relegated to asking his clairvoyant wife functional questions to propel the plot, laden with Lorraine's psychic visions re-enacting horrible occurrences.

I have interviewed the real Ed and Lorraine Warren, and can attest they were not the most fascinating people in the world.

In this case, some poetic license would have been appropriate to imbue their lackluster characters with some wit and humor in a movie devoid of both.

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Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O'Connor, Julian Hilliard

Directed by: Michael Chaves

Other: A New Line Cinema release. In theaters and on HBO Max. Rated R for violence. 112 minutes