The Devil on Trial

Demonic Possessions, Ghosts, Paranormal ..... how many of us , (normal people like me who watched a movie and came to write a review) can actually say that they have experienced any sort of anything even relatively close to paranormal . Its just all the stories that goes on from one mouth to other ear.

I liked Conjuring, I'm a horror fan. I won't take anything from the Hollywood aspect of it, but its really disturbing to see and know that how some people like The Warrens weave a so called fabricated reality into the minds of simple people just so that The Warrens can have their fame. And to even think that these people were supposed to be a ray of hope to someone who is unable, that's the most disturbing thing about the whole ordeal.

I don't know why this movie isn't getting the sensational response it so much deserve , forget the acting , forget the verdict, forget the guilty....just show the world what preys and predators look like in actual downright basic form. A man was murdered but somehow someone came up with an idea to make money of the dead.

I'm giving this rating solely for the sole purpose of what and who The Warrens were actually were.

This is a must watch for people like me , who craves for every aspect of something and who are not satisfied until the end.

The Devil On Trial might be interesting for people that liked The Conjuring. I'm one of them that enjoy that kind of stories. Do I believe all those things really happened? To be honest, not really, and this documentary turns more towards that way towards the end. Overall it's well made, the re-enactment looks believable, but I doubt that The Warrens are what they say they are. To me they look like conmen in this documentary and because of that all The Conjuring movies look more unrealistic from now on. The Devil On Trial is just for people that like easy entertainment, in this case a horror story based on true or false events. That's up to you to decide.

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.

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.

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.