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Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 3, 2021 8:15:57 GMT -5
Conjuring 3 Gets Thumbs Up, But Don’t Expect RealismThe Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It will open tomorrow (June 4) in theaters across the U.S. and The New York Times has given the movie a “thumbs up.” According to art critic Lena Wilson:
The Conjuring movies offer a fascinating peek into the American psyche. Based on the lives of the northeastern paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the franchise demands viewers invest in a worldview ruled by Christian dogma, where Godly good must battle satanic evil. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is by far the most well-constructed, terrifying entry in the franchise, but its plot relies all too heavily on that same bizarre evangelism.
The Devil Made Me Do It, helmed by Curse of La Llorona director Michael Chaves, opens on a slickly stylized exorcism. Heavy fog introduces a series of imposing, angular shots as Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) work to free an 8-year-old boy from demonic possession. Top-notch sound mixing and a booming score keep this sequence taut, even exhilarating, as the demon slips from its child host to the unsuspecting Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor). In an even more chilling series of scenes, a possessed Arne later stabs his landlord to death. It is then up to the Warrens to prove that Arne is not guilty by reason of Satanic curse.
As with The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, the film is based on the Warrens’ real-life escapades, and the couple did attempt with Johnson’s lawyer to mount a possession defense. But the film conveniently attributes Johnson’s first-degree manslaughter (rather than murder) conviction and meager five-year prison stay to the Warrens’ efforts, despite the court’s dismissal of their claims. It also heavily implies that Lorraine Warren, armed with heavenly psychic powers, is a more skilled investigator than the police, and preaches marital devotion as the ultimate Godly weapon. (The latter is a staple of the franchise.)
The Devil Made Me Do It is an excellently spooky work of fiction. It would be even better if it privileged ghoulishness over gospel.
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Nonetheless, those familiar with the events leading up to The State of Connecticut v. Arne Cheyenne Johnson and the trial itself, should be prepared for several major changes and a great deal of sensationalism. Some of the more obvious differences between The Conjuring 3 – based on The Devil in Connecticut, a book by David Brittle, – and actual events include the following:
‘Existence of the Devil’ Quote. In a court room scene in the film, Ed Warren, proclaims, “The court accepts the existence of God every time a witness swears to tell the truth. I think it’s about time they accept the existence of the Devil.” In the actual case, it was Martin Minella, Arne Johnson’s lawyer, who said, “The courts have dealt with the existence of God. Now they’re going to have to deal with the existence of the Devil.”
The Witch Totem. One of the more significant changes is the discovery of a “witch totem” in the Glatzel home. The word “totem” is of Ojibwe origin and refers to an ancestral or tutelary spirit, however, it also may refer to an artistic representation of a totem spirit. The Conjuring 3 totem is reminiscent of the stick figures in The Blair Witch Project and while such a “dangerous” object would undoubtedly look good locked away in a glass cage in the Warrens’ “museum,” there was no witches’ totem or anything similar in the Glatzel home, or elsewhere, in the actual case.
David Glatzel’s Initial Encounter with the ‘Demon.’ Prior to the “possession” of David Glatzel, the boy allegedly talked with an “old man” in a rental house where there was a waterbed belonging to a former tenant in the bedroom. In the movie, he sees the face of a demon staring back at him from the waterbed and a rotting arm from within the bed itself suddenly grabs him. This is pure Hollywood hype.
The Murder. Another major inaccuracy is the murder itself. On Monday, February 16, 1981, the film declares the entire town of Brookfield is “shocked by the broad daylight murder of Bruno Sauls.” First, the victim’s name was Alan Bono, not “Bruno Sauls.” Second, the locals were shocked because since its founding in 1788, there had never been a murder in Brookfield until Johnson took his knife to Bono. Furthermore, 40-year-old Bono wasn’t exactly what one would call an upstanding citizen. Most knew him as a short, stocky drunk, who told corny jokes and bragged about the exciting life he’d lived prior to ending up managing his sister’s dog kennel, a job he hated. Debbie Glatzel, Johnson’s fiancée, worked at the kennel and they both lived in an apartment on the property, where Bono also resided.
On the day of the murder, Bono, Johnson, Debbie Glatzel and Johnson’s two younger sisters and cousin had spent the afternoon eating and drinking in a downtown restaurant. Later, it was claimed Johnson drank very little and it was Bono who downed three carafes of wine. However, an ambulance driver testified he overheard Debbie Glatzel tell her father, “Oh Daddy, he [Johnson] didn’t mean to do it. You know how he gets when he’s been drinking.” It also was claimed that during their altercation, Johnson “growled” at Bono, an implication he wasn’t himself when he stabbed the older man to death.
Satanism. In the trailer, there are flashes of Satanic imagery and a man warns the two demonologists: “A master Satanist is not an adversary to be taken lightly.” There were no allegations of Satanic activity in the case.
Woodland Scenes: The scenes in the woods and at the ledge – where Lorraine is grabbed and almost pulled over by a phantom hand – are fabricated.
Political Correctness. The law enforcement officer who comes upon the blood-covered man (Arne Johnson) walking along the road is black, as is a major character in the film. Even today, the population of Brookfield is more than 95 percent white and less than 1 percent black. There are no black police officers in Brookfield today, nor were there in 1981. Everyone involved in the actual case was white.Sources: Lena Wilson, The New York Times, June 3, 2021; Jordan Willians, ScreenRant, April 23, 2021; Claudia Dimuro, PennLive, April 23, 2021; Jon Arvedon, CBR, April 22, 2021; Totems: The Transformative Power of Your Personal Animal Totem by Brad Steiger; Lynn Darling, The Washington Post, September 13, 1981; Witchcraft Tools; and Catherine D.
Note: The Glatzel home, where the alleged “possession” and many of the incidents in The Devil in Connecticut case took place, was featured as Mystery Location No. 239.
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Post by chris on Jun 3, 2021 20:22:31 GMT -5
I've read on some sites that The Conjuring series is really a love story between Ed and Lorraine Warren. Has anyone else heard that?
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Post by catherine on Jun 4, 2021 8:21:05 GMT -5
I've read on some sites that The Conjuring series is really a love story between Ed and Lorraine Warren. Has anyone else heard that? The only thing those two hypocrites loved was money. If that girl who lived with them was telling the truth, Ed slept with her one night and Lorraine the next. She also said he would slap Lorraine across the face to get her to shut up, which is believable because she never knew when to shut her mouth.
No matter where they went, they found demons and I doubt they even believed in demons, or any of the other crap they talked and wrote about. The author who wrote the book In a Dark Place, about the "Haunting in Connecticut" case, said that Ed told him the family was crazy and so was everyone else who contacted them:
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Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 4, 2021 13:52:19 GMT -5
Carl Glatzel Jr. Furious over Conjuring 3Carl Glatzel Jr., brother of David Glatzel, the “possessed” boy upon whom The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It is based, is furious over the revival and rehashing of his family’s troubles. Glatzel claims he left Connecticut because of the events that began with his younger brother’s hallucinations and delusions. Carl Jr. now lives in North Carolina.
When the events were taking place, Arne Cheyenne Johnson (pictured above) was Carl Jr.’s sister Deborah’s boyfriend – they later married while Johnson was in prison – and both believed David was possessed and that the demon left the boy and entered Johnson, causing him to kill Alan Bono.
Martin Minella, Johnson’s lawyer, with the assistance of “demonologists” Ed and Lorraine Warren, attempted to use “the devil made me do it” as a defense, but the judge disallowed it.
Carl Glatzel Jr. has been a vociferous opponent of the “demonic possession” theory since his brother’s illness and when The Devil in Connecticut, David Brittle’s book about the case, was reprinted in 2006, Glatzel filed a lawsuit naming Brittle, the publisher, and Ed and Lorraine Warren as defendants. (Ed Warren died on August 23 of that year.) Glatzel didn’t stop with the lawsuit, he also applied for permission to attach Lorraine Warren’s property in Monroe County, Conn., in the amount of $500,000.
“It makes me furious,” Glatzel said in a 2007 interview. “It took me 20 years to build my [construction] business up. Now we are not going to have it thrown away because of something that is not really true. ... This story has a twist to it, and you’ll see it soon enough. What we have is phenomenal.” He also claimed Brittle’s account ruined relationships and career opportunities and the truth would come out in a book he was writing with a professional author.
Brittle, now retired, has accused Glatzel of making “a bunch of wild charges.”
Unfortunately, Carl Jr.’s tell-all book that was supposed to reveal “a twist” to the story has never been published.
Of note, in 2019, Alan Glatzel, Carl’s brother, sold the “haunted rocking chair,” in which David sometimes sat when he was allegedly possessed by demons, to Zak Bagans and it is on display in The Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.Sources: Jesse Leavenworth, The Hartford Courant, June 2, 2021; Court TV, June 3, 2021; and The Haunted Museum.
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Post by Kate on Jun 4, 2021 17:45:07 GMT -5
Arne Cheyenne Johnson doesn't look anything like the man playing him in the movie.
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Post by chris on Jun 5, 2021 2:00:46 GMT -5
So first he said he had this phenomenal information that will be revealed in a book, then he doesn't write the book. Now he's upset again, but he still doesn't say what this "twist" is. I think the Brittle guy is probably right, he's just making a bunch of wild charges.
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Post by kitty on Jun 9, 2021 13:16:03 GMT -5
Has anyone seen this movie yet?
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Post by chris on Jun 10, 2021 18:45:54 GMT -5
Has anyone seen this movie yet? I know some people who have seen it, but they're the types who believe demonic possession is real and they don't know much about what actually happened. They said it was scary. |
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Post by jason on Jun 10, 2021 23:48:14 GMT -5
Has anyone seen this movie yet? I'll bet April goes to see it. She likes this kind of nonsense. |
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Post by aprillynn93 on Jun 20, 2021 16:49:35 GMT -5
Has anyone seen this movie yet? I'll bet April goes to see it. She likes this kind of nonsense. Nope. I will not pay money for it. I will watch it, but only if and when it gets to Netflix or something. |
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Post by chris on May 12, 2023 11:51:34 GMT -5
Did this guy ever write the book?
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Post by kitty on May 12, 2023 13:35:40 GMT -5
Did this guy ever write the book? |
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Post by chris on May 12, 2023 14:43:04 GMT -5
I've checked a couple of times to see if there's a book by anyone named Carl Glatzel and I haven't found anything. I read somewhere that his sister Debbie said that he filed the lawsuit for money, but I don't think he got any. Debbie is Cheyenne Johnson's wife. To me it was strange that some members of the family believed David Glatzel was possessed by the devil, but Carl didn't. If he knows something that no one else knows, he should make it public, either by writing the book or giving an interview or something. It would be interesting to know who he blamed for turning what he thought was his brother's mental illness into a case of demonic possession. But even if David was mentally ill, it's strange the way everything seems to relate to whatever happened at the house they were going to rent. |
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