The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ~
The Warrens are back for a third time on the screen with a case totally unrelated to the previous ones.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It gyrates around the real-life case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson ( the first person to have claimed demonic possession in a murder trial ).
Directed by Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona) and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is one of the best horror movies of 2021.
The film thrives on the investigation of the Warrens full of psychological and physical horror tropes adding greater effect to the movie and the director’s vision.
The Power ~
The year is 1974 and the place is London, at a time when Britain is preparing for electrical blackouts across the country , a trainee nurse named Val arrives for her first day at work in the dilapidated East London Royal Infirmary.
She must work inside an almost empty dark building for the night as most of the patients have been evacuated to a separate place.
Little does she know that she must confront an ominous secret that night when she must her own traumatic past and the malevolent force lurking in the building ready to devour everything around her.
The movie has elements of psychological and atmospheric horror that makes the movie a gripping watch.
Censor ~
A Film censor named Enid (who evidently takes pride in her conscientious work by guarding viewers from the harmful effects of watching gory decapitations).
However, she can’t rid herself off the failure to recall the occurrences she believed to have been responsible for her sister’s disappearance who has been declared dead for prolonged absence.
As Enid is assigned to review a disturbing film from the archive that eerily reminds her of fragments from her translucent childhood memories, she begins to unravel how the movie might be related to her own life.
The Medium ~
Hands down the best horror movie of 2021, The Medium is directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and written by Na Hong Jin (The Wailing) and Choi Cha Won.
The movie follows the concept of a found footage film. It starts as a documentary when a group of filmmakers approach a Shaman named Nim who believes to have been possessed by the benevolent god Bayan. In due course of time she realises that her nephew is possessed. However, the goddess that appears to have taken possession turns out not be as benevolent as she first appears.
One ominous occurence leads to another and the viewers are gradually led to an abyss of despair. The practices and the rituals would make one uncomfortable like the one in The Wailing did. The characteristic feature of this film involves how the makers never desired to quench the audience’s thirst for vengeance as the elusive catharsis never appears. It is as if we are living in hell where respite is not even an option and Mink is the devil incarnate.
The Vigil ~
The movie gyrates around ancient Jewish lore and demonology. The movie depicts the incidents that took place in a single evening in Brooklyn’s Hasidic Borough Park neighborhood.
An impecunious Yakov having left his insular religious community, reluctantly accepts an offer from his former rabbi and confidante to take on the responsibility of an overnight “shomer,” fulfilling the Jewish practice of watching over the body of a deceased community member. Immediately after arriving at the dead member’s house, he realises that something is wrong which eventually leads to a number of horrific occurrences.
