The Exorcist ushered in not only a cinematic era of supernatural devil-centric thrillers (highlighted by The Omen and The Amityville Horror), but a host of “real-life” demonic possession tall tales and experts. Of those, perhaps none are better known today than Ed and Lorraine Warren, the “demonologists” whose stories about fighting evil spirits and entities have been popularized—and validated—by James Wan’s The Conjuring franchise. Based out of Connecticut, the Warrens made a name for themselves by asserting that they’d battled Satan in all his many deceitful guises, and one of their most prominent cases was that of Arne Johnson, whose attempt to plead not guilty by reason of demonic possession made national headlines and was the basis of 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
According to one key player in this nightmare, however, “there’s nothing demonic in this… I knew it was all fabricated.”
The Devil on Trial is a nonfiction account of that controversial episode, guided by some of those who were directly involved in it. Director Christopher Holt’s Netflix documentary (Oct. 17) concerns, at first, David Glatzel, who at the age of 11 began exhibiting strange behavior. David speaks on camera for the first time in this feature, promising to set the record straight by expounding upon his “dark secret.” Despite that assurance, though, David’s actual participation in these proceedings is minimal and perfunctory, in large part because—like Arne, who soon factors into his ordeal—he doesn’t really remember being under unholy influence. Moreover, it’s never 100 percent clear if the entity that supposedly took control of his mind and body was Lucifer or merely one of his minions. Like everything about this saga, lucid and verifiable specifics are in short supply.
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David’s first alleged encounter with malevolence occurred at his sister Debbie’s newly rented house in Newtown, Connecticut, which she was sharing with her boyfriend Arne. While sweeping a bedroom, David says he was pushed to the ground, and in one of The Devil on Trial’s numerous dramatic recreations, he stares at an upstairs window as he and his family drive away, clearly shaken by the invisible being gazing back at him through a parted curtain. That night, David’s home was wracked by rumbling and shaking, and the boy screamed that “he” was coming to punish him. As Arne and David’s brother Alan explain in new interviews, the family was lucky that they had a tarot card-reading neighbor who told them that her mother-in-law had previously visited a psychic investigator, and she advised them to seek such help. Thus, the Warrens entered the picture. After checking out David with the aid of a physician, they told the Glatzel family—led by mom Judy—to document everything unnatural going on in the residence.
The Devil on Trial boasts the actual photographs and audio recordings made by Judy and others of David fighting and writhing about, screaming things like, “You will die,” “Jesus is gonna die in hell,” and, while laughing, “You’re a douchebag!” He sounds like a young kid straining to say wildly profane things. Nonetheless, the Warrens believed him and convinced local church authorities to authorize an exorcism, through which he was successfully cleansed, albeit with a twist: During the ceremony, Arne yelled at the demon to leave David alone and take him on instead. This was, to the Warrens, a dangerous challenge, since it made Arne vulnerable to the very spirit that had plagued David. According to detective Glenn Cooper, Lorraine subsequently warned him about this turn of events, as well as her vision indicating that someone would die.
That prophecy came true on Feb. 16, 1981, when a night of drinking between Arne, Debbie, and their landlord Alan Bono turned deadly, with Arne repeatedly and fatally stabbing Alan. Arne claims to have no memory of this conflict, and with the encouragement of the Warrens and the assistance of lawyer Martin Minnella, he eventually pled not guilty by reason of demonic possession—the first time such a defense had been put forth in an American court. This made for sensationalistic news and provided the Warrens with more publicity opportunities, yet the judge in the case roundly dismissed such a tactic, and Arne (who later changed his tune to “self-defense”) was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 20 years behind bars. In a 2005 interview, Debbie proclaims that she knows Arne is innocent, and David, his sibling Alan, and Arne himself continue to stick to the story that he was merely Beelzebub’s pawn and therefore innocent of murder.
Alan indicates early on in Holt’s film that he doesn’t care much for his eldest brother Carl, and The Devil on Trial reveals why: Carl thinks these demonic-possession contentions are a lot of made-up nonsense. He states that his mother was never religious until the Warrens showed up; that the Warrens effectively coached David (via the power of suggestion) on how to behave “possessed;” and that David’s nightly freakouts were akin to “a show” put on for the benefit of Ed and Lorraine’s cameras and microphones. He additionally recounts that, when one particular incident got out of control, his dad stopped David’s “demonic” tantrum with a swift slap (“I’m glad at least he listens to my father”). Carl was also at Alan Bono’s side when he passed away, and he never thought to link it to David’s prior “possession.” That was probably due to the fact that, as Holt’s film notes, there were rumors that Debbie had previously had an affair with Alan Bono, thereby implying a motive for Arne—especially on a night when he’d been drinking.
Carl forwards the theory that this biblical chaos was amplified by his mother drugging the family with Sominex sleeping pills, and he makes no bones about his feeling toward the Warrens, dubbing them “very good con people” whose real agenda was making money. Even David admits that Ed and Lorraine told him he was going to get rich off the ensuing book deal “and that was a lie…If they can profit off you, they will. They’re not going to pass up that deal.” The Devil on Trial still allows David and others to argue that demonic possession did take place, but given the evidence on display, many will likely find that up for considerable debate.
