The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

3. It Over-Relies On Jump Scares

Even the better films in the Conjuring Universe have made use of jump scares, but at least in the first two Conjuring films James Wan made those jumps feel earned, typically arriving as punchlines at the end of sustained suspense sequences.

There was nothing cheap about most of the jumps in the Wan films, but here the scares feel infinitely more predictable - if you've seen your fair share of horror movies, you'll see basically every single one coming.

For a series that's prided itself on elevating familiar genre tropes through skilled filmmaking and well-drawn characters, here the film's action feels far more like it's playing to the popcorn-munching Friday night cinema crowd.

It'll do enough to have teenagers squealing in their seats, but anyone au fait with the genre will probably find these jumps the most tired aspect of the movie.