The new trailer for The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It has been generating a great deal of buzz, but there’s also a quick moment in it that pays homage to the 1973 horror classic The Exorcist. The forthcoming installment in the franchise that’s known for following portrayals of real-life “demonologists” Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) tells the story of another real person: Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) of Brookfield, Connecticut. In 1981, the then-19-year-old killed his landlord by stabbing him to death after a heated altercation.
As the upcoming Conjuring movie’s name implies, Johnson claimed that he wasn’t actually responsible for his crime, and said that he had committed the act due to demonic possession. And, of course, that’s where the Warrens come into the true story. They had been attempting to help the brother of Johnson’s girlfriend, 11-year-old David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard), whose parents had enlisted their help after he began exhibiting symptoms of what they believed to be a possession. According to those present during subsequent exorcism attempts, Glatzel’s demon seemed to exit the young boy and infiltrate the body of Arne Johnson, who was also there. And then, his crime made waves in the quiet Connecticut town, and the “Devil Made Me Do It” case was born.
There are plenty of eye-catching shots in The Conjuring 3‘s trailer. Take, for example, the bird’s-eye view of Lorraine in the woods as she’s trying to connect with what’s gone on there, which suddenly plummets down to her level before taking a thematically and visually darker turn. But one moment that really seems to pay homage to the horror genre overall – specifically The Exorcist – is the shot of what appears to be a priest outside a home. It’s a darkly ethereal moment, which can be easily missed with the purposeful lack of lighting. But the priest-like figure stands in front of the house, in the dark of the night, appearing more like a shadowy silhouette than a person. He’s wearing a wide-brimmed hat and has what appears to be a satchel in hand. For classic horror fans, it’s a shot that stands out.
It’s clearly a nod to the now-iconic poster that was extensively used for The Exorcist in the early ’70s. This is the one where Father Karras is standing outside the home of possessed, young Regan and her mother–wearing similar attire, holding a satchel, with similar lighting. There could be multiple reasons that this moment of homage is in the trailer. For one, The Exorcist is one of the most well-known staples of American horror, especially within the possession-related genre. In addition to that thematic reference, the films seem to have plot similarities. Both, of course, involve demonic possession and exorcisms; but they also feature children who have been overtaken by insidious, satanic spirits.
And, judging by the widely-circulated, supernatural account of what truly happened with Arne Johnson’s act of murder, it seems as though the film will feature the concept of demons transferring from one host to another. In The Exorcist, Father Karras famously sacrifices himself to save Regan, convincing the evil spirit to leave the little girl’s body and take him instead, before sending himself through a window to fall to his death. It seems that The Conjuring 3 will not only center around a real-life case from decades ago, but also contain–at least–this one reference to an old classic within the genre.
