Movies
‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ Opens with Intense, Failed Exorcism [Sneak Peek]
James Wan has passed the baton to Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona) for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, coming to theaters and HBO Max on June 4, 2021. The third entry in the popular franchise is being described as the darkest one yet and a departure from the previous two films. To get a feel for what’s in store, Bloody Disgusting got to check out the first eleven minutes of the movie and chat with Chaves about the footage. Between the intense opener, which feels more like a climactic scene, and the case that inspired the film, The Devil Made Me Do It looks to shake up the franchise’s conventional haunted house format.
Gone is the familiarity of the traditional openers established by The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2. Instead of opening sequence investigation cases removed from the central plot, which previously introduced Annabelle and teased the Amityville house, The Devil Made Me Do It picks up deep amid a possession case, with a trashed home and claw marks etched along the walls. Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), along with their assistant Drew (Shannon Kook), are deep in the throes of battling a powerful entity that’s inhabited young eight-year-old David Glatzel (The Haunting of Hill House’s Julian Hilliard). They’ve called in reinforcements from the church, but preventing the possessed child from causing harm until they arrive proves daunting.
This opening establishes a few key scares. David breaks free from his family and the Warrens, running upstairs to hide in the rural home. It shows the entity tormenting him, leading to a startling scare in the bathtub, followed by the child getting showered in blood. After David stabs his father in the leg, the Warrens realize they can’t wait and begin. The possessed throws every trick he can, including contorting his body in unnatural ways, while Lorraine gets slammed with horrifying visions. This extreme scene results in a failure; Arne Jackson (Ruairi O’Connor), fiancé to David’s sister, doesn’t heed Ed’s warnings. He invites the demon into himself.
Of this opening sequence, Chaves explains, “Everybody, starting with James Wan all the way down to the studio, wanted to kick the doors off the haunted house. We’ve seen the Warrens exorcise demons a couple of times; everyone expects that’s how we’re going to end the movie. What happens if you open a movie like that? When they fail?”
While the first eleven minutes packs in the atmosphere, scares, some character dynamics, and an inciting event that will have ripple effects throughout the film, it’s the body-bending of David that stands out. Chaves, doing as much on camera as possible, credits Hilliard’s body double for this unnerving moment.
“We had this amazing double, a contortionist named Emerald [Gordon]. She was twelve years old at the time of filming, and I think Julian was eight. All those contortionist scenes are all on camera. There are no speed effects either. What we had rehearsed is that she’d do it very slowly. We thought it’d be creepy to do this slow rise, but after we did it a couple of times, I asked if she could do anything else. She said she could do a really fast version. So, she did that, and you could hear everyone on set about to lose their lunch. She literally gets up that quickly. It’s all real-time. The visual effect is that we added Julian’s face onto her.”
In keeping with the theme of this sequel as taking an unexpected approach, Chaves warns not to hope for an introduction to a new spinoff entity. “When James first talked to me about this, the first thing I asked is what’s the new iconic monster. I was so excited; James is the master monster maker. From the very beginning, though, he said, ‘That’s what everyone’s expecting. We’re going to do something different.’”
Chaves also stresses that it’s not just the horror element that makes this entry the darkest yet, “I think there’s always going to be the marketing spin that this is the darkest Conjuring movie yet, but in a lot of ways, this really is the darkest Conjuring movie yet. There’s a real victim. There’s a real man who was killed, and we’re telling a story of the murderer. It’s Arne’s story. Debbie Glatzel, the sister of David, was there. She witnessed the murder, and she testified that she was possessed. She stood by him this entire time. They remained married up until just a week ago; she passed away from cancer. But they were married their entire lives. We interviewed them, and they stuck to their story. It was one of the darkest points in their life.”
In addition to the true-crime procedural aspect of the story, the director leaves us with a cryptic tease for what Ed and Lorraine Warren will face this outing, “I think this is a movie that’s intentionally a different Warren movie, and a different experience. We definitely have an adversary that we’ve never faced before. I think that in itself is going to be unique and surprising.”
(L-r) PATRICK WILSON, Director MICHAEL CHAVES and VERA FARMIGA and on the set of New Line Cinema’s horror film “THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Photo by Ben Rothstein
This week’s new releases offer everything from giant monsters to Spielberg aliens to ass-kicking martial artists and even an ash-eating medical student. Do we have your interest?
Here’s all the new genre movies that released on Friday, June 12, 2026!
These aren’t all HORROR movies, but we want you to be aware of them all the same…
Norwegian creature feature Kraken is now available on Digital.
The film was also unleashed in select theaters. Check your local listings.
In the monster movie Kraken, “unnatural behavior in wild salmon, followed by inexplicable deaths in Norway’s deepest fjord, points to the mythical Kraken. The ancient, multi-armed monster has awakened, ready to crush everything that moves or makes a sound.”
Pål Øie (The Tunnel) directs Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Kraken from a script by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Jelen Rasmussen, and Natasha Arthur. Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset, Øyvind Brandtzæg, Jenny Evensen, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, Jon Erik Myre, Hans Morten Hansen, Steinar Klouman Hallert, and Filip Bargee Ramberg star.
An all girls trip into the desert for escapism fun instead implodes in violence in the revenge thriller Find Your Friends, now streaming only on Shudder.
In the film, “Amber and her four best friends flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface.
“What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a nightmare.”
Bella Thorne (The Babysitter), Chloe Cherry (“Euphoria”), Helena Howard (I Saw the TV Glow), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), Zion Moreno (“Gossip Girl”), and Chris Bauer (“True Blood”) star in the feature debut by writer/director Izabel Pakzad.
Steven Spielberg is more sure today than he was when he made Close Encounters and ET that aliens are very real, and with Disclosure Day, he aims to make you a believer too.
Okay so it’s not a horror movie, but the sci-fi blockbuster is now playing in theaters.
The vague synopsis for Disclosure Day reads: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to Disclosure Day.”
The film stars SAG winner and Oscar® nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Oscar® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple) and two-time Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).
Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Combined, those films earned more than $3 billion worldwide. Koepp also wrote the script for Jurassic World Rebirth.
Steven Spielberg is of course no stranger to extraterrestrial encounters, directing two of the greatest alien movies of all time: Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977 and E.T. in 1982. It’s an arena he returned to in 2005, directing an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Here in 2026, Steven Spielberg sees hope in the existence of aliens. He notes in the final trailer for Disclosure Day, “How will disclosure change us? I believe for the better.”
Another movie that’s not a horror movie but worth mentioning here is the violent martial arts revenge thriller The Furious, which is now playing in theaters from Lionsgate.
Xie Miao (The New Legend of Shaolin) and Joe Taslim (Mortal Kombat) star.
After his daughter is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wang Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself.
His only ally is Navin, a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers.
Kenji Tanigaki (Enter the Fat Dragon) directs from a script by Mak Tin Shu (Kung Fu Jungle), Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In), and Frank Hui.
A disturbing weight loss craze involving human ashes opens up a haunting world of hurt for a young woman in Saccharine, which is now available on Digital outlets at home.
From writer/director Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7A), the Australian supernatural body horror film follows lovelorn medical student Hana, who becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Midori Francis (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), and Madeleine Madden (“The Wheel of Time”) star in Natalie Erika James’ latest nightmare.
From directors Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz, I Am Frankelda is billed as the first ever full length stop motion movie from Mexico, and it’s now streaming on Netflix.
The history-making stop-motion film is a dark fantasy set in a world of monsters.
Here’s the synopsis: “In 19th-century Mexico, Frankelda is a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed. Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life.
“Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse.
“To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller—before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation.”
The directors said in a joint statement, “As brothers, we grew up inventing worlds together, drawing, playing, imagining. Over time we understood that fictional characters were not only companions but guides. Sometimes they felt closer than the people around us. They provided us courage, wisdom, and solace. We believe fiction is not an escape from reality but a way of understanding it. A way of converting truth into palatable chunks. I Am Frankelda comes from a lifelong love of storytelling.”
Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr., and Luis Leonardo Suarez lead the voice cast.
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Mexico’s first stop-motion animated feature is a macabre beauty.” Meagan also notes in her review, “I Am Frankelda is a gothic fantasy feature whose boundless creativity is matched by its ambition.”
The lines of reality and delusion blur in Time of Death, now available on Digital.
Michael Kelly (“The Penguin,” Dawn of the Dead 2004) stars with Kevin Pollak (End of Days), Mena Suvari (Vampires of the Velvet Lounge), and Dennis Haysbert (Send Help).
In the horror-thriller, “When a prisoner vanishes without a trace, Detective Frank Morley (Michael Kelly) is sent to a decaying prison on the verge of shutdown. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a dangerous search for answers.”
Will Wernick (Escape Room 2017, Follow Me) directs from a script by Jason Rosen. They also produce alongside Kelly Delson, Jeff Delson, and Kyle David Crosby.
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