I’m a big fan of James Wan’s “The Conjuring” movie universe as it’s one of the most effective, fascinating, and scary library of horror movies ever produced. While the legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren is infamous, the fictional Ed and Lorraine Warren are great cinematic horror heroes, and they’ve been the center of one of the more diverse horror movie series to come along in a while. What with “The Nun 2” coming to theaters this week, I ranked the whole “The Conjuring” movie universe from the best to the worst.
Let me know how you’d rank the movies in the comments!
The Conjuring (2013)
James Wan’s introduction to “The Conjuring” universe is a master class in plugging the movie going audience right in to a horror film. We meet Elaine and Ed Warren who are already in the midst of a case. We meet Annabelle who would become one of the faces of Wan’s series of films. The movie then emphasizes the sheer terror that we’re about to be subjected to. “The Conjuring” is still a masterpiece of a horror film, filled with mounting terror, an interesting mystery, and dazzling performances by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ron Livingston, Joey King, and Lili Taylor, respectively. The latter of whom more makes up for her appearance in Jan DeBont’s awful “The Haunting” remake. Ten years later it’s still so incredibly influential on modern supernatural horror. It’s also such a watchable horror gem.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Whether or not the Enfield Hauntings were or weren’t a complete hoax is neither here nor there. Director and storyteller James Wan’s follow up to “The Conjuring” is a wonderful sequel. It’s as good as the original and often times I find myself placing it above the 2013 film that started it all. And sometimes it’s a close second in the entire series. It depends on my mood. The sequel is filled with great scares, wonderful new moments of absolute terror, an incredible first appearance by the Crooked Man, and some wonderful twists. Not to mention it sets up what would become one of the more recognizable mascots for “The Conjuring” movie series: Valak aka The Nun, played with sheer brilliance by Bonnie Aarons.
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
The best way to sometimes fix a bad direction in a movie series is to give it a soft reboot. It worked for “Ouija” and it works well for “Annabelle: Creation.” This follow up is a prequel, sequel, and soft reboot that take a second shot at instilling the terror in to Annabelle once again. This is basically the origin of the Annabelle doll and how her spirit embodied the doll and what led to her becoming such a horrifying icon. David F. Sandberg’s direction is top notch, and the movie ends on a great finale that perfectly clicks in to the rest of the movie series. It doesn’t make “Annabelle” any better, but it at least fits in well.
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Gary Dauberman’s sequel and follow up in the “Annabelle” series is a very good look in to the wider “The Conjuring” universe. A lot of fans didn’t like how the movie was more watered down and felt like the springboard for a spin off for the Warrens’ daughter Judy Warren, but I had a great time with it. The movie is just filled with some fun horror gags, some genuinely frightening scenes, and the writers commit a heinous act by trapping one of the characters in the Warrens’ gallery of cursed artifacts. That’s just pure nightmare fuel. “Annabelle Comes Home” rides on McKenna Grace’s acting skill and she just aces this role. She has gravitas, charm and that every person quality that makes Judy Warren a likable inadvertent heroine.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Michael Chaves’s approach toward the third outing in “The Conjuring” movie series is just fine, it’s just not as great as the first two. As a third film in the central movie series it’s a perfectly good and entertaining dramatization of the infamous possession/murder case. “The Devil Made Me Do It” offers up some genuinely good possession scenes, neat scares, and focuses mainly on the relationship of Ed and Elaine Warren. It’s bad enough they face off against supernatural demons, but Ed also has to face his own mortality, which makes their victory harrowing and more difficult than ever. It’s a pretty good movie even if it doesn’t escape the dreaded “curse of threes.”
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
I don’t buy for a minute that “The Curse of La Llorona” is not a part of “The Conjuring” universe. Apart from being promoted over and over as an extension of “The Conjuring” universe, the movie makes a clear, blatant reference to “Annabelle.” Aside from that, Michael Chaves’ “The Curse of LaLlorona” is a pretty good horror movie, overall. It’s flawed in some story beats, and with some questionable character decisions, but I had fun with it, plus Linda Cardellini does a great job here. It’s too bad we’re not getting a sequel because La Llorona is a terrifying legend.
The Nun (2018)
I, for one, appreciated Corin Hardy’s take on the nun Valak and her original spin off movie. It felt like pseudo-Gothic dramatic horror a la Hammer Films. The only thing is that the parts of the sum just never really come together and click in the end. There’s even the stunt casting of Taissa Farmiga whose older sister Vera Farmiga is the star of the whole series, and nothing is ever really made of it. She’s just cast as protagonist Sister Irene bearing no real relation to Elaine Warren. It’s just baffling. In either case, while “The Nun” isn’t exactly scary, it’s spooky, and occasionally eerie, plus it’s tough to hate Bonnie Aarons as Valak. I also kind of liked the twist ending when all was said and done.
Annabelle (2014)
This should have been a slam dunk! “Annabelle” should have and could have been a truly terrifying horror movie about the now iconic doll. The original legend where “Annabelle” was inspired from is scary all on its own, so why couldn’t this work? John R. Leonetti’s adaptation of the “Annabelle” story for this spin off/prequel is so bad, and so boring, and so bafflingly stupid. It’s also tinged with uncomfortable racist undertones. Everything that should work about this story is just so listless and feels so much like a generic basic cable TV movie, when all is said and done. Annabelle is horrifying by just her mere sight. It’s too bad that the first real outing that should be essential viewing is much better if skipped altogether. You’re not missing anything.