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‘The Conjuring 3’ and The Story Behind the ‘Devil Made Me Do It’

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The Conjuring 3

This weekend, Warner Brothers revealed the full title for the latest entry in The Conjuring franchise at Brazil’s CCXP. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is set for release in September of 2020.

But what’s the story behind the new film?

For that, we have to go all the way back to Brookfield, Connecticut in 1980.

It All Began with a Possession

David Glatzel, then 11 years old, began to exhibit strange behavior after his family acquired a rental property. He spoke of an old man who made threats against the family and began having night terrors. After he received several large scratches on his body, they called in a local priest to bless the home.

The blessing seemed to make matters worse, and after the phenomena began occurring during the day as well as night, the family was at their wits end. They called upon Ed and Lorraine Warren for help and after investigating, they revealed that they thought that David was being possessed. Lorraine had allegedly witnessed a black mist materializing next to the boy and moving through him at various times.

David would growl, hiss, and speak in voices that were not his own, and it was said that he even demonstrated some precognition during that time.

The Warrens called in more priests who reportedly performed between three and six exorcisms on the boy. It was during this time that Arne Johnson, who was in a relationship with David’s mother, Debbie provoked the demonic entity and would later come to believe that when the demon finally fled David’s body, it took over his own.

The family eventually fled the home, and Debbie took a job working as a dog groomer for Alan Bono who also rented out an apartment to the family.

David seemed to finally be recovering but now Arne began exhibiting similar behaviors to the boy. Debbie allegedly claimed that he would go into a trance-like state growling and hallucinating only to forget what had happened when he would emerge from the trance.

On February 16, 1981, Arne called into his job saying that he didn’t feel well and went to spend the day with Debbie at her job. Bono took everyone out to lunch at a local bar where he became intoxicated. An altercation took place when he allegedly became belligerent and grabbed Debbie’s nine year old niece, Mary, by the arm.

Johnson confronted Bono telling him to let the girl go, but Bono refused. Suddenly, and without warning, Johnson seemed to change. He growled at Bono then produced a five-inch blade which he used to repeatedly stab the man in the torso with one wound in particular stretching from his stomach all the way to the base of his heart.

It was the first murder ever reported in Brookfield, Connecticut, but it would not be the last “first” of this case.

The Devil Made Me Do It

When Arne Johnson was brought to trial later in 1981, his lawyer, Martin Minnella, brought a defense no on in the court room was expecting when he tried to enter a plea of “not guilty by virtue of demonic possession.” It was the first time such a plea had been brought before a court in the U.S.

Presiding Judge Robert Callahan rejected the defense saying there was no way to prove that Johnson was indeed possessed noting that it was unscientific. Minnella changed his tactic, attempting a self-defense case arguing that Johnson was protecting his family when the attack occurred.

The defense was, to a degree, unsuccessful. John was convicted of first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison, of which he only served five years.

The Aftermath of the Case

Shortly after the case, NBC produced a made-for-TV film titled The Demon Murder Case.

Author Gerald Brittle, meanwhile, published a book titled The Devil in Connecticut, documenting the case with the help of Lorraine Warren. The book eventually went out of print but when it was re-published in 2006, a new wrinkle in the fabric of the case came to light.

Carl Glatzel, Jr. and David Glatzel sued both the authors and publishers claiming that the Warrens had capitalized on and exploited David, who they claimed suffered from mental illness, turning it into a story of demon possession and sensationalizing the details.

Lorraine that her assertions were correct and both Johnson and Debbie, who are now married, have continued to support those assertions.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona) will direct the upcoming film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It based on this case which is admittedly a strange one. This is the third Conjuring film and the seventh in the extended Conjuring Universe which was created by James Wan based on the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will return as Ed and Lorraine Warren for the film starring alongside Ruairi O’Connor (The Spanish Princess) as Arne Johnson and Sarah Catherine Hook (Triangle) as Debbie Glatzel. Julian Hilliard (Color out of Space) will appear as young David Glatzel.

Look for the film in theaters in September of 2020!

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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