With this past weekend’s release of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, based upon the Arne Cheyenne Johnson murder case of 1981, the furor surrounding the real life exploits of married demonologist/clairvoyant team Ed and Lorraine Warren (and the charges that they were frauds) has fired up yet again, setting social media ablaze with arguments either defending or excoriating the couple. Such reactions can be traced to the release of the first Conjuring film back in 2013, itself based on a Warren case regarding the haunting of the real-life Perron family in the 1970s. Seven films set within the Conjuring Universe have followed, ranging from “Based on a True Story” tales to utter fictions molded from the creative license of the filmmakers behind the flagship series. The questionable veracity of the former seems to fuel the hottest of the arguments, seeing passionate defenders on either side of Twitter and the like.
What cannot be argued is that, in February of 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson stabbed Alan Bono to death and was subsequently arrested, tried, and sentenced to a term of 10-20 years in prison, ultimately serving five before his release. The court case gained significant notoriety when Johnson’s attorneys employed the unprecedented defense that the young man had been possessed by demons at the time of the killing. Ed and Lorraine Warren backed his story, with an eventual book released detailing the horrific possession of a young child (David Glatzel, the younger brother of Arne’s girlfriend) preceding Johnson’s purported possession and Bono’s murder.
Andy Griffith and Beverlee McKinsey as Guy and Charlotte Harris in ‘The Demon Murder Case’ (1983)
The case garnered national interest, which not only brought with it an expected media firestorm, but a televised dramatization in the form of The Demon Murder Case. This 1983 NBC-TV movie covers roughly the same events of the third Conjuring film, albeit in a wildly different (and decidedly more lo-fi) way, all while changing the names of the people involved in the case. The film opens with Kenny Miller (the Arne Johnson analogue, played by a very young, post-Friday the 13th Kevin Bacon), in cuffs and being drive via prison bus to the courthouse. There, we meet: his lawyer Anthony Marino (The Thing’s Richard Masur); Joan Greenway (Young Frankenstein’s Cloris Leachman), an atheist reporter drawn into covering the trial; and Warren stand-ins Guy and Charlotte Harris (Andy Griffith and Beverlee McKinsey).
‘The Demon Murder Case’ VHS artwork
After a brief scene in the courtroom depicting Marino’s attempt to introduce demonic possession as the defense tactic for his client (with the judge swiftly striking down this plea), reporters swarm Marino for his reaction. Guy Harris trails behind, solemnly addressing the press with “I tell you, this is a battleground. This is not a case of murder. This is a confrontation between the devil and the human race.” From here, we cut to one year earlier, focusing on the Frazier family (standing in for the Glatzels) as they move into a new house. The youngest child, here named Brian, reveals to his mother that he has been visited by “the Beast”, who has followed him from their previous home. From their first night forward, Brian begins exhibiting increasingly alarming behavior straight out of the Regan/Pazuzu playbook. At their wits’ end, the family contacts the Harrises, who consult on the case alongside the prickly Father Eagon. Griffith brings his folksy charm to the role, while McKinsey radiates kindness, both creating a warm impression with their take on the Warrens.
Further outbursts, brutal attacks and levitation figure into Brian’s possession, leading the religious authorities to sanction an exorcism administered by Father Dietrich (The Devil’s Rain’s Eddie Albert). Charlotte assists, drawing out the names of the forty-two (!!!) demons inhabiting the boy, in a sequence that reminds one of Lorraine sussing out the Nun/Valak’s true name in the second Conjuring film. The sequence is hardly frightening, but it is more than a little fun (the child shouts and grumbles as the ground shakes, lights swing wildly from the ceiling, and candles spray fire into the air). Unfortunately for everyone involved, the exorcism doesn’t work, leaving Brian still under the Beast’s control even as he’s taken back home.
It all culminates with Brian attacking Kenny with a knife, with the surrogate older brother commanding the demon to come into him. From this point, we follow Kenny and his girlfriend Nancy as they move into a new home owned by Nancy’s boss Phillip Russo (Cutting Class’ Tom Ligon), who makes no secret of his designs on his pretty young employee. Tensions boil with Phillip’s growing lechery and Kenny’s burgeoning jealousy, leading to the inevitable confrontation which sees Phillip’s death at Kenny’s hands.
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From here we move back to the present, with Marino making an impassioned defense with the support of the Harrises. Nevertheless, Kenny is found guilty and sentenced. The film ends with Kenny staring out of his prison cell, muttering “Demons” to himself as he gazes into the empty night before him. One final scare at the Frazier house carries us to the end credits, assuring us that the terror isn’t yet over for the poor family.
While the film surely won’t sway any of the Warrens’ detractors, it does act as an interesting companion piece to the third Conjuring film. Whereas that new film only covers the initial possession and subsequent murder briefly in its first act before sending the Warrens off on an investigative journey, The Demon Murder Case delves heavily into the initial possession and the fraught relationships which led to the bloodshed. Curiously, even for all of the supernatural shenanigans in its first half, the TV movie illustrates that resentment and copious amounts of alcohol were far more responsible for the stabbing that took a man’s life than a demonic possession. In addition, we get much more time in the courtroom with this earlier film, depicting the trial and sentencing at length.
Though the film’s direction is a bit pedestrian at times, with chunks of the movie playing out like a cheap, neutered Exorcist ripoff, there are some genuine moments of stylish flair on display. The writing is solid, while the performances are generally quite good. While it may be a tad slow at times, The Demon Case Murder stands as an interesting enough curiosity for fans of paranormal history, The Conjuring franchise, and, yes, the Warrens. Controversy be damned.
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren in ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ (2021)
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3668525/demon-murder-case-1983-tv-movie-original-conjuring-devil-made/
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