With marketing for The Conjuring: Last Rites gearing up ahead of the movie's upcoming theatrical release, it feels like a poignant time to look back at some of the franchise's best and worst movies. Unfortunately, The Conjuring is known better for its misses than its hits. Despite grossing over $2 billion, most of the movies in this series are pretty bad. In fact, I'd go as far as to say there are only three films in The Conjuring Universe worth watching.
Starting in 2013 with the terrifying first film directed by James Wan, The Conjuring has been heralded as a classic and one of the scariest movies of all time. A significant part of the film's success is owed to stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who gave us one of the most beloved couples in the horror genre. Watching them work together to solve hauntings is truly compelling stuff and their love for one another is genuinely the anchor that keeps this franchise together.
That's why, when the fictional versions of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren aren't the main part of the film, it tends to falter. Out of the three movies I mentioned that are great in this series, only one of them is outside of the main series: Annabelle: Creation. The following list highlights the best three films in this terrifying cinematic universe and why they work so well.
The Conjuring (2013)
Even if you have enjoyed all of the films in The Conjuring Universe, I think the majority of viewers can agree that the first movie is the best. It's the one that introduced us to Farmiga and Wilson's loving portrayal of paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren.
Set in 1970, The Conjuring follows one of the most famous hauntings, of the Perron family in their Rhode Island farmhouse. Carolyn and Roger Perron, along with their five daughters, are tormented at increasingly disturbing levels by a malevolent entity that only the Warrens can help them remove.
Why is The Conjuring so good and so downright scary? Wan is a significant reason. He's an excellent horror director and understands how to make a suspenseful movie rife with tension without relying single-handled on cheap scares. Every scare in this movie is earned and the best ones take you completely off guard. Couple that with precise sound design and practical effects, and you've got a modern masterpiece.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Wan returned to direct The Conjuring 2, which became the series' lynchpin. It was from this movie that The Nun was born, having introduced a terrifying new version of Valak in a standout scene involving Lorraine and a cursed portrait. Wan has also shown renewed interest in making a spinoff focused on the Crooked Man.
Ed and Lorraine return in this 2016 sequel to investigate the Enfield poltergeist haunting the Hodgson family in England. Again, Wan shows off his directing prowess here along with infusing this movie with unique and horrific moments. There are multiple nightmare-inducing scenes in the sequel, like the aforementioned demonic nun and the Crooked Man, along with everything about the ghost of Bill.
Annabelle: Creation (2014)
The possessed doll Annabelle was first introduced in The Conjuring as one of the cases the Warrens had investigated prior to attending the Perron family. Even though Annabelle wasn't a huge part of the film, she made her mark as a creepy doll and a conduit for demonic activity, leading to the doll starring in her own trilogy of films.
The first Annabelle was a total dud, though it still performed well at the box office. But Annabelle: Creation is an excellent movie and it even stands alone, which is nice for a franchise that has increasingly focused on trying to make a Marvel-like cinematic universe. David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) directed this one and it functioned as a prequel depicting how the Annabelle doll came into existence.
All of the actors in this were great, but Lulu Wilson is one of my favorite up-and-coming scream queens. She also starred in Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and The Fall of the House of Usher. The girl knows how to pick a good horror movie.
What's wrong with the rest of the franchise?
This list is notably missing both of The Nun movies, two out of three Annabelle films, and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. The Curse of La Llorona isn't technically part of the Universe officially, but it does take place in the same universe, but The Curse of La Llorona might just be the worst movie of the bunch.
But what makes the other movies bad? Here's a quick rundown.
- Annabelle: Cheap scares and a boring script make for a lackluster film that feels like a retread of the most common horror movie clichés.
- The Nun: A compelling location wasted on a forgettable screenplay and a serious lack of anything scary.
- The Nun II: Middling and meandering story falls flat, though this one is better than the previous one, it is also hindered by forced connections to the other movies in the series and a hokey post-credits scene.
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It: Moving away from traditional hauntings in favor of a true crime angle made this feel less like a movie in The Conjuring and it didn't focus as heavily on the Warrens as it should have.
Michael Chaves directed The Nun II, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and The Conjuring off-shoot The Curse of La Llorona, which does make me apprehensive for the upcoming movie The Conjuring: Last Rites. It would have been nice for Wan to return and wrap up the Warrens' story, but fingers crossed that it ends up being better than some of its predecessors.
The Conjuring: Last Rites comes to theaters on September 5.