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‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’: How the Franchise’s Latest Villain is Connected to ‘Annabelle’

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Demonic doll Annabelle, a mainstay of the Conjuring Universe, gets name-checked directly in the third entry of The Conjuring core franchise. In The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Arne’s lawyer begins as a skeptic, arguing that the demonic possession as a defense sounds ridiculous and would be difficult to prove. Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) offer to make the lawyer a believer by introducing her to Annabelle. Cut to the aftermath, where the visibly shaken woman announces in court her change of heart on the topic. That wry in-joke is only the tip of the iceberg to the doll’s connection to this sequel.

The first Conjuring spinoff explored the origins of Annabelle, set in California during the late ’60s. The inciting event for Annabelle saw the Form family’s next-door neighbors brutally murdered by adoptive daughter Annabelle Higgins, who’d previously ran away to join a cult. While Mia Form’s husband goes to check on the neighbors, Annabelle and her boyfriend attack her. Annabelle transfers her soul to Mia’s newly acquired doll as she cuts her own throat, her blood dripping into the doll’s eyes. It begins a series of escalating paranormal events; the haunted doll seeks to claim Mia’s baby.

Eventually, Mia seeks answers, first from the authorities involved with the Higgins’ case, then through a bookstore owner. The detective reveals that Annabelle Higgins and her boyfriend were part of a cult known as the Disciples of the Ram and that they were dedicated to conjuring up inhuman spirits. More specifically, they were attempting to “resurrect the Ram.” Mia later learns from the pages of an occult book that summoning up demonic entities requires sacrifice or the blood of an innocent, which explains why the cultists invaded her home to attack after murdering the neighbors.

The spinoff’s follow-up, Annabelle: Creation, traced Annabelle “Janice” Higgins’s childhood as an orphan up through her adoption by the Higgins, flashing forward to that fateful night where she transferred into the doll. It didn’t explain how Annabelle became a Disciple of the Ram; it showed how Annabelle became the Ram itself. Creation saw the Mullins open their home to orphans many years after their daughter tragically passed. They felt it’d been enough time, and the demon they’d locked away went dormant. That is until it lured Janice into freeing it, beginning a new reign of terror. That demon bears ram’s horns and the cult’s marking on its chest.

In Conjuring 3, Lorraine discovers a witch’s totem beneath the Glatzel house, which meant that young David’s possession resulted from a curse. On the night of the exorcism, the curse was passed from David to Arne through Arne’s invitation. Ed explains that the totem draws the demon, working as a beacon. Series regular Father Gordon (Steve Coulter) suggests they seek answers from the priest that helped expose the Disciples of the Ram cult, Father Kastner (John Noble).

Father Gordon explains that Kastner long retired as a priest but spent an extensive period studying the cult and getting acquainted with them to understand why they did what they did. During their visit with Kastner, he shows the Warrens his basement collection of Satanic and occult objects collected while studying the Disciples of the Ram over nine years.

Lorraine visits Kastner once more for exposition on the curse just ahead of the film’s climax. It must target and claim three victims to be complete; the child, the lover, and the man of god. The child target was David, the lover was Jessica, and the arrival of a totem at the Warrens’ house marked Ed as the final target. The latter prompts Kastner to lead Lorraine back down to his basement, where he shows her a family photo album. It contains pictures of his daughter, Isla, whom he raised in secret while continuing his studies of the Disciples of the Ram. His research and growing collection sparked a fascination in Isla, which eventually caused her to fully submerse herself in the world of Satanism and black magic.

Isla is the one behind the curse; she’s the film’s villain, referred to as The Occultist (Eugenie Bondurant). While she seems to be operating on her own, putting her soul on the line as she promises three victims to complete her curse, her rise to villainy originates from the Disciples of the Ram, even if indirectly. Kastner and his daughter make a tragic and sinister counterpart to the Warrens; demonic darkness to their light. The mythology behind Isla Kastner expands the Conjuring universe even further, tying The Devil Made Me Do It to Annabelle in an unexpected way.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

5 Deep Cut Horror Movies to Seek Out in April 2024

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horror
Pictured: 'The Uncanny'

New month, new horror recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. This installment features selections reflecting the month of April 2024.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s offerings include telepathic plants, ecological horrors, and a lot of killer cats.


The Uncanny (1977)

horror

Pictured: The Uncanny (1977)

Directed by Denis Héroux.

The Uncanny is a two-for kind of deal: it works for both National Pet Day (April 11) and Tell a Story Day (April 27). Here we have Peter Cushing‘s character talking at length about the evils of cats, with his three examples fleshing out this singular anthology. And while this film is often mistaken for an Amicus production, it was, in fact, made by The Rank Organisation. However, Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky was also a co-producer.

The Uncanny has a tendency to be one-note in its execution and story styles; vengeful felines come up more than once in the film. Even so, these macabre, cat-centric segments told in EC Comics fashion are more entertaining than not.

Watch The Uncanny at streaming sites such as SCREAMBOX.


The Kirlian Witness (1979)

horror

Pictured: The Kirlian Witness (1979)

Directed by Jonathan Sarno.

The Kirlian Witness (also known as The Plants are Watching) fits the bill when looking for something to watch on International Plant Appreciation Day (April 13). Similar to Eyes of Laura Mars, this film’s story is built on pseudoscience. More specifically, Kirlian photography. Nancy Snyder‘s character Rilla hopes to use this technique — revealing the energy field, or aura, of people and other animate things — to solve her sister’s murder. However, the only witness to the sister’s death, apart from the mysterious killer, is a plant. Rilla’s bizarre investigation eventually leads her to a startling discovery.

Jonathan Sarno’s film is a certified slow-burn, but it’s also intriguing and good-looking. This oddball of crime-solving horror is, at the very least, unique.

The Kirlian Witness is available for rental/purchase (under its alias) at digital retailers like Apple TV.


Scream for Help (1984)

horror

Pictured: Scream for Help (1984)

Directed by Michael Winner.

For Scream Day this year (April 24), why not visit Scream for Help? In this teenage thriller filtered through Death Wish, a Nancy Drew type suspects her stepfather is up to no good. And when her suspicions are proven right, she and her mother have to fight for their lives.

Scream for Help had the makings of a standard ’80s teen-slasher, but this turned out to be more like an “afterschool special meets home invasion” flick. And a hilarious one at that. It was likely not Michael Winner’s intention for this film to be so laugh-a-minute — star Lolita Lorre, bless her heart, has the funniest deliveries — however, trying to keep a straight face during his cinematic hot mess is impossible. Tom Holland‘s script was straight up murdered. Still and all, this is an entertaining disasterpiece that would have been an entirely different film had the original director, Richard Franklin, stayed on (rather than going off to direct Link).

The HD restoration of Scream for Help is available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, but the digital version is standard-def.


Penumbra (2012)

Pictured: Penumbra (2012)

Directed by Ramiro García Bogliano & Adrián García Bogliano.

While it’s advised not to stare at the sun during the solar eclipse on April 8, fans of satirical horror are encouraged to give Penumbra, an Argentinian-Mexican film featuring an imminent solar eclipse, a watch. The unsubtle artwork suggests a straightforward survival story, however, the actual product is quite different and twisty. Cristina Brondo plays a prickly businesswoman who may have made her last sale; her new client has ulterior motives.

Surely some viewers will be put off by the protagonist of Penumbra, whose behavior in anticipation of the ominous eclipse is problematic. Yet, strangely enough, her being an imperfect victim adds something to the film, whereas a more pristine character would have made the whole experience less gripping.

Penumbra is currently available on AMC+.


Strange Nature (2018)

Pictured: Strange Nature (2018)

Directed by James Ojala.

For a less known eco-horror film to watch this Earth Day (April 22), Strange Nature tells its story with both urgency and force. Here, the late Lisa Sheridan (of FreakyLinks) played a struggling single mother looking into a local anomaly: mutated frogs. Soon enough, the cause of this abnormality extends beyond the water and creates other threats for the town’s human residents.

This truly indie production has its obvious limitations, yet the story — one based on a real life incident in Minnesota — and characters compensate for any visual flaws. The practical effects for the mutant beast are also admirable, given the meager resources available.

Strange Nature is currently streaming on Tubi.


No genre is as prolific as horror, so it’s understandable that movies fall through the cracks all the time. That is where this recurring column, Deep Cuts Rising, comes in. Each installment of this series will spotlight several unsung or obscure movies from the past — some from way back when, and others from not so long ago — that could use more attention.

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