The Conjuring Universe: The Very Best and Worst of Modern Horror
Few horror franchises, classic or modern, have proven to be as prolific or controversial as James Wan’s The Conjuring Universe, established in 2013. As of 2024, the series boasts a total of 12 feature-lengths along with an assortment of tangentially related short films, a number already surpassing that of long-running tentpole franchises such as Friday the 13th and Hellraiser. The franchise has been quite divisive among horror fans, with many praising it as a return to bare-bones, Gothic-inspired storytelling for the genre, while others have derided it as a cash cow devoid of creative investment for detached studio executives. Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle. While the series has had its fair share of duds over the years (and oh boy, are some of them real stinkers), I’m inclined to partially forgive those given the undeniable strength of some of its earlier entries. So, if you’re interested in entertaining my ramblings on this never-ending series, read on for my insight on what makes this franchise (and its fans) tick.
The Conjuring (2013)
The film that started it all, The Conjuring is a bonafide horror classic in my eyes. It’s the last horror movie I can think of that is simply terrifying. Sure, you have your Hereditarys and your Get Outs, but these movies are more unsettling and thoughtful than viscerally horrifying. There is nothing to think about in The Conjuring. It wears its thematic palette on its sleeve and features a barebones story that can more or less be predicted from the outset. It doesn’t derive its suspense from narrative uncertainty, but from the endless onslaught of tension-release scenes that work almost across the board. There are few films that are as consistently horrifying as this one. The narrative payoff isn’t always there, but you’d be hard pressed to find a film more effective at crafting relentless scares. Regardless of your opinion on what comes after, it’s hard to deny that The Conjuring is a great horror flick.
The 3:07 AM Project (2013)
A set of four short (and I mean short) films directed by rising horror directors (you may recognize Ti West as the man behind A24 hits X and Pearl) released in conjunction with The Conjuring, the films themselves have very little to do with the franchise’s continuity, but they’re still interesting pieces of ephemera. Two of the four films are excellent, while the other two are actively detrimental to the state of modern horror.
This One, For The Lady (Vigalando) - This one’s not very good at all. I’d even go so far as to say it’s bad. There’s really very little to remark on about this film, for it manages to waste the 90 or so seconds given to it.
The Séance (Landis) - Easily the best of the bunch, this is a genuinely unsettling short film that takes heavy inspiration from The Blair Witch Project but transplants the isolation and uncertainty of that to an urban setting. Without spoiling much, I’ll say that the last five seconds of this film are terrifying in a way I haven’t seen replicated anywhere else.
Box (West) - This one’s bad too. It’s just a contortionist crawling out of a box. That’s literally it.
One Last Dive (Eisener) - This one’s pretty great! Exploiting the underutilized genre of underwater horror, Eisener relies on deep-set feelings of thalassophobia to craft a brief but haunting tale of a scuba trip gone wrong with almost no spoken dialogue. In many ways, it reminds me of Hemingway’s famous six-word short story, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” with how much it manages to evoke just by prompting the imagination.
Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle is unfairly maligned among modern horror circles. Sure, it may not be particularly original or , but there are few films that manage to so thoroughly create an atmosphere of dread and unease through some subtle color grading and unsettling camerawork. The opening home invasion sequence here is particularly effective, as is the masterful elevator scene later. Annabelle, as a character, is one of the more menacing villains of the Conjuring mythos, and her lack of a coherent backstory here makes her especially creepy. Her background would be elaborated on in the later Annabelle: Creation, which I’ll discuss further on. I hope one day Annabelle will receive a critical reevaluation and receive its dues, but for now, I strongly recommend checking out this underrated gem.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
While they are both intensely terrifying films, The Conjuring 2 is strikingly more spiritual and reserved than its predecessor. Whereas the original reveled in bombarding the viewer with countless effective jumpscares, this excellent sequel instead derives many of its scares through careful atmospheric tension (though there are certainly plenty of jumpscares to be found here, too). There’s lots of nightmarish imagery (I really love the design of the “Crooked Man,” even if his character is disappointingly underutilized), though the film is often more focused on what could be hiding in shadows or on the corners of a reflection than what is placed directly in the mise-en-scène. The film runs a bit too long, and the final showdown is underwhelming, but The Conjuring 2 is still a modern horror classic in my eyes that lives up to, and sometimes exceeds, the original. That first scene with the nun, man. It’s the stuff of nightmares.
Wolves at the Door (2016)
The first major misstep in The Conjuring franchise, Wolves at the Door is truly one of the worst films I’ve had the displeasure of viewing. What makes it especially frustrating is that it’s so tangentially related to the series continuity; it features Eric Ladin very briefly reprising his role as Detective Clarkin from Annabelle. But I suppose that’s enough to place it within the cinematic universe, which is unfortunate, given this is easily the worst film in the franchise. This isn’t a so-bad-it’s-good movie - it’s just bad, plain and simple. Offensive in ways previously thought unimaginable, Perhaps there’s an essay to be written on how this film epitomizes the most voyeuristic and perverse instincts of the true crime wave. But then again, perhaps not - I don’t think Wolves at the Door is worth anyone’s attention. This film has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, by the way.
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Now we’re back on track. While not as viscerally unsettling as the original, Annabelle: Creation is a solid throwback to classic haunted house films with some excellent scares. The interesting thing about horror prequels (and I suppose all prequels) is that you know exactly the direction the narrative is heading and where the characters are going to end up. There’s no narrative tension, so all the suspense has to be crafted on the micro level, creating uncertainty around specific scenes rather than the entire story. The plot is constructed modularly, as the characters (with the audience as passengers) are ushered through a series of jumpscares that exploit the dramatic irony that we know these characters are going to meet a horrible fate despite their attempts to survive the demon. The quality of a horror prequel hinges upon how well the director can leverage that impending doom to create a compelling atmosphere, as well as motivation for the original film. And in that respect, Annabelle: Creation could certainly do worse.
The Nun (2018)
The Nun has absolutely no idea what made the early Conjuring films so effective. Yes, those films, like The Nun, have very little in the way of a meaningful plot, and they were effectively mood pieces designed to provide a backdrop for a whirlwind of strong scares. But The Nun misunderstands the fundamental premise of The Conjuring series - that horror should be scary. Instead of crafting a mood that caters, The Nun instead focuses on crafting a poor period piece that attempts to evoke some sort of Catholic gothic atmosphere that is just terribly unconvincing. There is not a single memorable scene in this film, let alone any truly terrifying ones. It’s a shame, because the introduction of The Nun (the character) in The Conjuring 2 was one of the creepiest scenes in that film. But alas, a potentially great horror villain has gone to waste.
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
The only movie that makes me consider whether Wolves at the Door is truly the worst film in the franchise, The Curse of La Llorona is just a complete and utter failure. I truly cannot think of a single kind thing to say about this film. And as my mom has always told me - “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Please take my warning and stay far away from this horrible film.
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Though it puts the franchise back on the proverbial track in terms of narrative, I have mixed feelings on Annabelle Comes Home. On one hand, it’s a campy masterpiece that functions as the culmination of the franchise to this point, featuring the long-awaited encounter between the Warrens and Annabelle. On the other hand, it’s not scary. At all. I mean, this thing is one step above a Disney Channel Original in terms of evoking fear in the audience. There are a litany of jump scares, per Conjuring tradition, but none of them have the intense buildup that made the first films in the franchise so compelling. That said, two of the specters which the film introduces to the franchise (The Bride and The Samurai) are so much fun to watch that the lack of dread is almost excusable. Almost.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
What a weird movie. In some ways, the third entry in the mainline Conjuring series is a terrible film. The lighting is embarrassingly uncoordinated, with the characters hardly visible in certain scenes, and the acting is subpar for a series that has never had particularly strong performances. The story is contrived at best and nonsensical at worst, and the transplantation of the Conjuring formula into a courtroom drama setting really does not work. That being said, I actually like this film quite a bit. It’s nowhere near the phantasmagoric heights of its two older siblings, but The Devil Made Me Do It certainly holds its own. Overcoming its technical (and narrative, and performative…) ineptitudes with a focus on character and the Warrens’ relationship, as well as a more intentional thematic exploration of faith that was only suggested in previous films, the third Conjuring film deserves more credit than it’s received.
The Nun II (2023)
Finally, we’ve caught up to this seemingly never-ending franchise. Though the series certainly has its fair share of bonafide modern horror classics, if The Nun II is any indication of the future of the narrative, we’re in big trouble. While perhaps marginally better than its predecessor, this film is still embarrassingly weak and devoid of scares (apart from the surprisingly effective magazine sequence). The Nun II trades the vaguely compelling claustrophobic atmosphere of the original for more lackluster jump scares. The film’s “success” over the first one can be attributed to performances that, given the material, are generally solid, whereas the acting in The Nun was soap-operatic at best. Look - I generally enjoy The Conjuring franchise. On the whole, it has more hits than misses for me. But my god, when it misses, it misses. I truly hope that the series can find its footing again with the upcoming The Conjuring: Last Rites. Reportedly, it will be the last entry in the franchise. But somehow, I find that hard to believe.
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