After The Exorcist was released in 1973, it was said that the film gave the Catholic Church fantastic publicity due to the number of people who were, allegedly so terrified of it. In the panic that ensued, it could be argued that Ed and Lorraine Warren grabbed the ball and ran with it!
You'll be familiar with the Warrens if you have watched The Conjuring universe films. There's no arguing that these films which are "based on true events" are massively entertaining. There can be no doubt that as a couple they were devoted to one another, but did they really encounter diabolical spirits in their investigations? As with many documentaries about the Warrens, the makers of this one have fallen into the same trap that their subjects did; go into it already accepting one version of events without applying critical thinking. The Warrens were very religious and really seem to have wanted to promote those beliefs. Their methods of doing so were to hammer home their belief that The Devil is real and you had to believe in the power of Christ to overcome torments. They believed that God allowed such hauntings to happen so people would know he was stronger than Satan. That is a level of messed up that in itself requires a book about the nature of belief.
At best the Warrens were deluded people who thought they were genuinely helping others, at worst predatory Christians who preyed upon the fears of the desperate and credulous in order to foist their brand of Christianity upon others. A lot of these people didn't need exorcists so much as they needed psychiatric help and in that respect the Warrens were dangerous.
Both Ed and Lorraine are now dead, but they still have followers among the credulous who are determined to continue their work. One of them even states that Ed proved the existence of ghosts in court. Absolute BS. All that was proved in that case was that someone had such a strong belief in spirits (that the Warrens undoubtedly fuelled to a reckless degree) they were too scared to remain in their rented home.
I'm not 100% sceptical on such matters, but nor do I believe you can scream DEMON every time something unusual happens.
It's a watchable documentary but not for the reasons you might imagine. I don't think many will come away from watching this with the sense that the Warrens were on a genuine crusade against the forces of darkness, but I think many will be asking questions about a couple who, had they lived in the 17th century, would probably have sparked off a witch hunt and then asked questions later.
You'll be familiar with the Warrens if you have watched The Conjuring universe films. There's no arguing that these films which are "based on true events" are massively entertaining. There can be no doubt that as a couple they were devoted to one another, but did they really encounter diabolical spirits in their investigations? As with many documentaries about the Warrens, the makers of this one have fallen into the same trap that their subjects did; go into it already accepting one version of events without applying critical thinking. The Warrens were very religious and really seem to have wanted to promote those beliefs. Their methods of doing so were to hammer home their belief that The Devil is real and you had to believe in the power of Christ to overcome torments. They believed that God allowed such hauntings to happen so people would know he was stronger than Satan. That is a level of messed up that in itself requires a book about the nature of belief.
At best the Warrens were deluded people who thought they were genuinely helping others, at worst predatory Christians who preyed upon the fears of the desperate and credulous in order to foist their brand of Christianity upon others. A lot of these people didn't need exorcists so much as they needed psychiatric help and in that respect the Warrens were dangerous.
Both Ed and Lorraine are now dead, but they still have followers among the credulous who are determined to continue their work. One of them even states that Ed proved the existence of ghosts in court. Absolute BS. All that was proved in that case was that someone had such a strong belief in spirits (that the Warrens undoubtedly fuelled to a reckless degree) they were too scared to remain in their rented home.
I'm not 100% sceptical on such matters, but nor do I believe you can scream DEMON every time something unusual happens.
It's a watchable documentary but not for the reasons you might imagine. I don't think many will come away from watching this with the sense that the Warrens were on a genuine crusade against the forces of darkness, but I think many will be asking questions about a couple who, had they lived in the 17th century, would probably have sparked off a witch hunt and then asked questions later.
