I recently became acquainted with a horror franchise that had previously eluded me - the Conjuring universe. Consisting of the interconnected films in the Conjuring trilogy, the Annabelle trilogy, spin-off The Nun and its sequel, and the barely connected The Curse of La Llorona, these (some more, some less) real-life-inspired supernatural horror flicks certainly have a vibe of their own. Having watched them all in the last few months, culminating in seeing the new The Nun II (2023) in the cinema, I can now offer my ranking of all nine films in the Conjuring universe.
9. The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
None of the movies in the Conjuring franchise are downright bad - quite a few lean woefully mediocre, but all have some redeeming qualities. For The Curse of La Llorona, the semi-unrelated spin-off film that is only arguably canon, those positive qualities are in how it draws from creepy folklore in a Midsommar-esque fashion.
Still, it's not overall great cinema - it particularly fails the franchise's standard as a horror flick, as there is much less underlying creepiness and the actual horror comes mostly from individual jump scares. And while the film's 'stands out of the crowd by being different' aspect is somewhat of a strength at times, it is also a crutch - almost all of the other Conjuring-verse films get nerd-enthusiasm mileage from having cool connections to each other, so the film where the only connection is that one priest character from one other film does feel a bit disjointed in the larger puzzle.
8. Annabelle (2014)
The Annabelle trilogy is a true outlier in the category of horror franchises: the first instalment is the least-good one (The Purge is the only other example I can think of). This is largely because of the Conjuring universe's smart long-term planning: for a set of spin-off movies focusing on the Annabelle doll seen in The Conjuring, the most interesting concepts are A) an origin story, or B) a continuation taking place after the first Conjuring films. Knowing that they were going to make many of these films, the producers took the long-term route and started off with a film that is neither, therefore saving the more compelling premises for the sequels. Simply put, the first Annabelle film takes one for the team and leaves room for better stuff in the future.
Also, it's just a fairly generic and predictable horror film. Still, there are quite a few genuinely scary moments, and the film's ending ties neatly into the events of The Conjuring.
7. The Nun (2018)
Many people seem to consider the first Nun film to be the worst film out of the nine in this universe thus far. I do see the reasoning for this: Corin Hardy's directing is wobbly at best, and elements from dialogue to overall production value are quite a bit B-class. But still, the scares themselves are an important factor when comparing horror films, and this flick does have its share of those.
It helps that Valak the Demon Nun (Bonnie Aarons) is easily the scariest villain in the franchise, and just visually such a guaranteed scare. Sure, films like The Conjuring II and The Nun II utilize the villain much better, but even at its worst, just the visual of The Nun is inescapably spookier than the likes of the Annabelle doll or La Llorona.
6. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Here we have the Quantum of Solace of the Conjuring franchise: good production values, looks great, feels like a real movie and not a cheap sequel - but the soul is somewhat missing. It seems to be an ongoing theme with Michael Chaves, who has directed three of the films in this universe: his films avoid the 'cruddy and lazy sequel' archetype by looking visually compelling and grandiose, just the kind of films that it's easy to make a killer trailer for. But when you watch the film from start to finish, especially knowing how good the Conjuring films can be at their best, it just feels like something is missing.
The Devil Made Me Do It still ranks this high because there is a lot to like: Chaves does know how to create a decent scare, and the story stands out from the rest with its detective-like approach to the haunting case at hand. The idea of being less 'haunted house' and more 'haunted man' than the previous Conjuring films is appealing, but the film definitely doesn't reach its full potential and is thus stuck around the middle of the ranking.
5. The Nun II (2023)
The newest addition to the franchise, released just some weeks ago, is another middle-of-the-road Michael Chaves instalment with lots to like and lots to be a tad disappointed in. The biggest minuses for me were that the final act dragged on for too long (this was notable as the franchise usually excels in pacing), and that parts of the film felt a bit too cruel for this particular universe (the old woman's death in particular seemed unnecessary and brutal in a fashion that seems to break the storytelling code of these films).
But there's a lot that the film does right, making it an overall vast improvement over the first Nun film. The production values are decent, the story has a solid emotional core as you actually care about the characters, and best of all: the horror is excellent. There are thrills that will leave you cold throughout the film, and the sheer visual spookiness of the Valak character is utilized to the maximum with lighting and cinematography choices. This one is definitely worth checking out!
4. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
The third Annabelle film is a hard one to rank - on the level of production values and directing, it's far from grade-A cinema, but subjectively and story-wise, I just really like it. Among the reasons for this is the premise - it may play a bit recklessly with the 'based on true events' foundation of the Conjuring franchise, but for the purely fictional side of the universe, the idea of Annabelle coming back with its haunting powers after being safely locked up by the Warrens is quite delicious. This film also has an even bigger emotional core than The Nun II, as I really got invested in the characters, almost choking up in a few places.
I also admire the film's use of side villains - it's smart in the sense that a third film about the same haunted doll might feel a bit stale without such an extra spice, and it's smart in the sense that the Warrens have investigated so many intriguing cases that it's a cinematic gold mine to utilize these. The Ferryman and the Hellhound really add a lot to the story, both in a worldbuilding sense and a decent horror -sense.
3. Annabelle: Creation (2017)
The second Annabelle film is a slow burn, descending from creepiness at a leisurely pace to a pressing, intense drive of non-stop horror towards the end. The film takes us back to the 50's and tells the origin story of Annabelle, and what really helps the film stand out is its setting - the dusky and rural orphanage really has a vibe of its own, perfected by the production design and cinematography throughout the film.
Very little of the film's horror comes from resorting to mere jump scares, as it's all about the underlying creepiness and well-built sequences here. A vast improvement over the first Annabelle film, from the delightfully slow-paced and grimly fascinating opening act all the way to the neat tie-ins into the larger Conjuring lore at the end.
2. The Conjuring (2013)
There are many elements to enjoy in the film that kicked the whole franchise off, starting with the fact that a supernatural horror flick based on true events is not something you see every day. This really makes the whole franchise stand out - you may choose to believe it all word-to-word, you may see the films as dramatized and mostly-made-up fictionalizations of somewhat real events, of something in between. But it does make you think, as something in these movies (the first two Conjuring movies in particular) just feels more real than we're used to feeling in this genre.
(Side note: throughout many of these films, I wondered how the strongly religious aspect of the franchise plays with different audiences. I'd imagine that many deep-end serious Christians may not like them as they could be seen as using the word of the Bible for horror cinema entertainment, but the most hardcore-atheist horror fans might not like them either, as they could be seen as tarnishing the brutality of the horror genre by being all 'Jesus saves the day'. What I'm trying to say that maybe, just maybe, the lasting popularity of the Conjuring films proves that we're not quite as divided as it often seems).
Anyways, the first Conjuring film kicks ass. I love how gradually the horror is built - many films of this genre fall either into doing too much build-up and rushing the final act or then jumping into the final act too early and dragging it on, but with this one, it's hard to even pin-point where the final act begins. Every scare seems just a tad more intense than the previous, thus building the atmosphere from "woah, something's wrong, something's spooky" to "HOLY F%&#K, GET OUT OF THIS DEMON-INFESTED HELL HOUSE" very smoothly.
1. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The sophomore instalment of the franchise is somewhat similar to the first, but one or two notches better in most categories. The pacing is beyond perfect, and there are many little touches (short scenes and simple instances of not-haunting-related dialogue in the first act) that really humanize the characters and make them feel like real people instead of mere horror flick victims. And when shit starts to go down, it goes down with grace.
There are many sequences of horror perfection, such as the "There's someone in my tent" toy car scene (I honestly got chills just thinking about it now) and the one where Valak fully appears for the first time. The Conjuring 2 is decent cinema beyond being 'just a horror film', but more than that, it's exceptionally successful as a horror film. In the category of the best horror flicks of the last 10 years, it honestly goes ahead of The Vvitch (2015) and Hereditary (2018) in my book.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) by ranking Quentin Tarantino's films - but with a major twist.
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