The Devil on Trial - Processo al diavolo

There seems to be 2 divided sets of opinion on this documentary. It mainly comes down to preconceptions regarding the reality of the supernatural. Conformation bias will have some people getting near the end, hearing the oldest brother's recollection of events and concluding 'it was all a big lie from the start' and consider the first ¾ of the documentary a waste of time.

Those people who do believe in the supernatural or have had personal experience with the supernatural will find the first ¾ of the documentary a fascinating account of demonic influence and possession.

There's really no conclusive evidence for either viewpoint as we can only base our opinions on what has been described by the those who were there and the audio recordings that were made. The viewer will decide who they believe is the most trustworthy in their retelling of events. Who they consider trustworthy will most likely be the party who mirrors the viewer's own worldview most closely.

If you enjoy documentaries and especially about themes like this you will probably really enjoy it. It's an eerie documentary about a case of the Warrens. You have family members talking about what happened from their perspective with reenacted scenes in between to give the viewer a good look what was really going on in this case. The movie is able to generate a whole new perspective on the whole scene and what took place and actually brings some realism to the whole case. That being said it's definitely not a bad movie I would say, however I personally am not the biggest fan of truecrime or documentary movies and since I never really took a deeper look in this specific case of the Warrens I have say that I felt bored at times. The movie is only 81 minutes long which for me was a plus, but I can't say that I had a an amazing watching experience. It's definitely a decent watch though. [5,2/10]

I am house sitting for a week, flicking through the horror films on Netflix I have already seen most of them but this feature length documentary caught my eye for something to watch. With a running time of about 80 minutes it felt ideal for a watch before going to bed. It certainly didn't give me nightmares though! This concerns the apparently true story back in 1980 where 11 year old David Glatzel becomes possessed by a demon whilst he is helping his big sister movie into her new home(!). Her boyfriend Arne then becomes possessed and kills his landlord. During the trial his defence sought to prove him innocent based upon him being possessed by a demon. He was convicted of first degree manslaughter. Famous (or should that be infamous?) paranormal investigators Ed and his wife Lorraine Warren helped with the case. The film includes real sound recordings that they made of David but to me they sound far from convincing. David and his brothers Alan and Carl are each filmed talking about the case over 40 years later. David is convinced that he really was possessed, Carl says that it was a hoax and he's certainly get my vote for who to believe. If you are interested in the paranormal or the Warrens and their legacy (The Conjuring movies etc) then it is worth a watch. If like me you are sceptical of such matters then chances are it will only re-enforce your disbelief in the paranormal.

The entire first hour of this documentary plays out like a horror film, and when I realized early on that it's a re-imagining of the third Conjuring film, the events were less impactful. I'd read about the Glatzel case at the time, and while it seemed interesting from a cinematic perspective, I doubt there was enough material for it to be explored as a matter-of-fact documentary. But here, the makers chose not to go that route and spent almost 55-60 minutes detailing supernatural events that may or may not have happened, with scenes re-created in the style of a typical horror flick (replete with jumpscares).

It's only the final 20 minutes or so, that the titular case comes under question. The demonic possession plea was never accepted to begin with, and therefore, it really has no value in any of the proceedings. What did surprise me is how Netflix also decided to question the Warrens' approach to media and money-making when it has several films from The Conjuring universe in its catalog. That, to me, was an interesting take.

A young boy is apparently being possessed by a demon. David sees visions, hears things, sounds demonic, and needs an intervention from the Catholic church. A murder happens, and an interesting defence is put forward.

I'm not totally convinced here, it was a watchable hour or so, but it didn't really have a lot of meat on the bone as it were. Sure it's out in time for Halloween, but the wonderfully imagery doesn't quite tell the whole story, yes it's about possession, but it's very talky.

Your enjoyment level is going to depend on where you sit on the whole debate of demons and possessions being real or not. I looked for a plausible solution, for me it felt as though were presented with a very credible one.

Let's applaud it for not being made into a six part series, it's pretty brief, and there is some interesting content, and some startling footage. You will see heavy influences for horror films, those were interesting to spot.

Sominex, wow that advert was quite something, that was a pretty unexpected twist.

6/10.