The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, now available on Netflix UK, has been terrifying Conjuring fans around the world with its recreation of a horrifying true life case. Like the previous two movies in the 'main' series, the threequel is inspired by a real-life event that Ed and Lorraine Warren were involved in.
While The Conjuring 3 may seem like pure fiction, it was actually inspired by true stories of exorcisms and murder in early 1980s Connecticut. Warner Bros. PicturesRuairi O'Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
The events portrayed in the films The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 were based on real experiences, including investigations of the Perron family and the Enfield Poltergeist.
In 1985, Arne Johnson and Debbie Glatzel got married in prison. Arne was released a year later, after having served five years, for good behavior. The pair stayed together until Debbie's death in 2021. But the four Glatzel siblings are scattered and rarely keep in contact.
In the movie, Johnson is really possessed thanks to a witch who put a curse on the Glatzels' house. It also links Johnson's case with that of missing girl Jessica Louise Strong. All of that is an invention of the film–Strong is not a real person, and neither is the enchantress who makes the totems in the movie.
The Conjuring 3 True Story: Arne Cheyenne Johnson, David Glatzel
How much of The Conjuring is true?
The movie is loosely based on real life events. Bathsheba Sherman was a real Rhode Islander and the Perron family did live in a house that is located on the original Sherman property. If memory serves me, Bathsheba was accused of sacrificing or killing an infant, but was acquitted.
Rather, the sequel turns its focus to a singular villain, an occultist named Isla, the daughter of Father Kastner. While Ed and Lorraine initially believed David and Arne to be possessed by a demon, they discover that Isla actually cursed them by putting a witch's totem beneath the Glatzel's house.
Arne was released from prison after he served five years, according to the Associated Press. Debbie married him while he was in jail, and he got his high school diploma. The couple had two children together. Debbie died of cancer in 2021, per The Cinemaholic.
On November 24, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono. Found guilty of first degree manslaughter charge and sentenced to 10 to 20 years prison, serving 5 for good behavior.
As in the previous Conjuring movies, the events are treated as fact so it makes sense that the movie takes creative licence with the real-life events after the murder to provide a satisfying conclusion. As director Michael Chaves puts it, the Warrens believed what happened to Johnson was true.
Annabelle is an allegedly-haunted Raggedy Ann doll, housed in the now closed occult museum of the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Annabelle was moved there after supposed hauntings in 1970. A character based on the doll is one of the antagonists that appear in The Conjuring Universe.
The Conjuring 4 has been confirmed, but we still don't have a confirmed release date as of May 2024. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is set to start filming this summer in Atlanta. If filming starts as planned, it means we could expect to see it in cinemas in June or July 2025.
Arne Cheyenne Johnson was released from prison for good behaviour after 5 years in 1986, and is still alive although keeps a low profile since being freed. Although he appears in The Devil on Trial to tell his side of the story, he doesn't reveal much detail of his life in the aftermath of his release.
The scares are less but they are still there. This would be a good horror movie standalone but as a Conjuring movie it is weaker. The most disappointing part is that the "true" story (depends if you believe in this stuff) would have made for a good movie.
Arne Johnson was 19 when he was arrested for murder in 1981. A specific age isn't listed in The Conjuring 3, but it would seem that despite Ruairi O'Conner being 29, Johnson is approximately the same age as his real-life counterpart.
Arne Johnson was let out on good behaviour after serving five years of his sentence. He was released in 1986. Johnson married Debbie Glatzel while he was in prison. The pair went on to have two children.
Is 'The Conjuring' based on a true story? That depends on whether you believe in ghosts. But the movie is based on the Perron family, who moved into the house in 1971, and said they began experiencing paranormal phenomena.
Arne Cheyenne Johnson, a 19-year-old tree surgeon who had been renting out an adjacent apartment with his fiancée, Debbie Glatzel. Johnson was arrested on a first-degree manslaughter charge but he pleaded not guilty. His defense was astonishing: He claimed that he murdered his landlord while possessed by the devil.
Arne Cheyenne Johnson says he was possessed by the devil when he killed his girlfriend's boss in 1981. The story is at the center of the Netflix documentary "The Devil on Trial." Here's what we know about where the key players in the story are today.
How accurate is The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It?
Chaves admits that, while the story is based on a real case, court records and interviews, certain liberties were taken to craft the movie version. He talks to USA TODAY about how he balanced telling the story right vs. making an entertaining horror thriller.
The Conjuring 2 is being pulled from a number of cinemas in France following reports of 'loud yelling', 'hysterical laughter' and even violent altercations between audience members.
What killed Sadie the dog? In the movie "The Conjuring," Sadie the dog is killed by an unseen entity that is haunting the Perron family's farmhouse. The death of the dog is depicted as being caused by supernatural forces, and is used to add to the sense of danger and horror in the film.
Isla's doing all this because she's obsessed with the Devil. As such, she releases this demon as a soul collector, taking sinners and dead people back to hell. It's why Isla has no problem using it to stain Ed's soul or even Lorraine and Kastner's. But truth be told, she's set her eyes on Arne due to her hubris.
