Ranking The Conjuring Universe Films
I saw the latest film in The Conjuring Cinematic Universe this weekend; The Nun and I also finally watched the entirety of The Conjuring 2. The first time I watched it I fell asleep halfway through. It wasn't because the movie was boring, it's because I had just worked a 12 hour shift and my friends wanted to watch a movie. Now that I'm all caught up, I figured it was a good time to rank each and every one of the five films in this spooky universe. We'll make things interesting and start from the top and work our way down.
Edit: I've now finally watched The Curse of La Llorona and The Devil Made Me Do It so I can update these rankings!
#1. The Conjuring (2013)
The movie that started it all is easily the best in the series. I'm not even that big a fan of demonic/exorcism movies, but I really liked this one. It has a great cast, particularly Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who take some characters based on deplorable real life people and make them extremely likable. The technical aspects of the film are fantastic with some truly amazing cinematography. The story is engaging, the family is likable, and the 3rd act is intense. It has a slow start and doesn't add anything new to the genre, but The Conjuring is competent and well-crafted.
8/10: Really Good
#2. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The Conjuring 2 succeeds because of the great lead characters, once again portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The cinematography and the lighting are both fantastic, it's very creepy, and has an excellent 3rd act. It takes far too long for the Warren's to get involved in the main story, the new family is not very interesting, and it's a little too similar to the original, but The Conjuring 2 is a solid sequel.
7/10: Good
7/10: Good
#4. The Nun (2018)
The Nun isn't all bad. The setting is really creepy, there are a few well-done sequences, I enjoyed the schlocky way that the villain was defeated, and the tie-in to the main series worked fine. The script is pretty terrible, the characters aren't interesting, the humor felt very forced, and there are a few boring stretches. The Nun isn't a bad movie, but it's not good either.
5/10: Meh
#5. Annabelle: Creation (2017)
The opening sequence of this movie is insanely dumb and the first 45 minutes are simply boring. After that the films starts to get somewhat enjoyable, but it never gets good enough to actually recommend.
5/10: Meh
#6. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
While the 3rd Annabelle film has an incredible poster, the movie is far less incredible. It's great to have Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in one of the spin-off movies, they don't get enough to do. Plus the second act is very boring. Worst of all is how preventable this movie was. Daniela is one of the single dumbest horror movie characters of all time and that makes this movie hard to like from the get go.
4/10: Bad
#7. The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
The least memorable movie in the series. While it has talented leads, some dark moments, and great cinematography, this movie is incredibly boring and generic. Plus the characters are incompetent and stupid.
4/10: Bad
#8. Annabelle (2014)
Coming in dead last is Annabelle, the bottom of the barrel. It's horribly generic, it comes off as super cheap, and is flawed even on a technical level, which really stands out because of how well made The Conjuring films are. The acting is terrible, as is the writing, but worst of all, this movie is soooooo boring. There is one scene in the whole movie that is creepy and another that is unintentionally hilarious. This movie brings shame to the entire Conjuring universe.
2/10: Awful
So, that's my rankings! What do you think? Am I dead wrong or did I nail it? As far as I'm concerned, stick to the main series and ignore the spin-offs.
Edit: I've now finally watched The Curse of La Llorona and The Devil Made Me Do It so I can update these rankings!
#1. The Conjuring (2013)
The movie that started it all is easily the best in the series. I'm not even that big a fan of demonic/exorcism movies, but I really liked this one. It has a great cast, particularly Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who take some characters based on deplorable real life people and make them extremely likable. The technical aspects of the film are fantastic with some truly amazing cinematography. The story is engaging, the family is likable, and the 3rd act is intense. It has a slow start and doesn't add anything new to the genre, but The Conjuring is competent and well-crafted.
8/10: Really Good
#2. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The Conjuring 2 succeeds because of the great lead characters, once again portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The cinematography and the lighting are both fantastic, it's very creepy, and has an excellent 3rd act. It takes far too long for the Warren's to get involved in the main story, the new family is not very interesting, and it's a little too similar to the original, but The Conjuring 2 is a solid sequel.
7/10: Good
#3. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
The last movie in the series I would consider good and actually recommend, The Devil Made Me Do It is a solid change of pace for the series. This isn't a haunted house film, but a serial killer movie with demons thrown in. I like the mystery, the first act is incredible, and, again, both Wilson and Farmiga are fantastic. It has some issues with pacing, CGI, and not doing enough with it's premise, but it's an enjoyable film nonetheless.
7/10: Good
#4. The Nun (2018)
The Nun isn't all bad. The setting is really creepy, there are a few well-done sequences, I enjoyed the schlocky way that the villain was defeated, and the tie-in to the main series worked fine. The script is pretty terrible, the characters aren't interesting, the humor felt very forced, and there are a few boring stretches. The Nun isn't a bad movie, but it's not good either.
5/10: Meh
#5. Annabelle: Creation (2017)
The opening sequence of this movie is insanely dumb and the first 45 minutes are simply boring. After that the films starts to get somewhat enjoyable, but it never gets good enough to actually recommend.
5/10: Meh
#6. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
While the 3rd Annabelle film has an incredible poster, the movie is far less incredible. It's great to have Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in one of the spin-off movies, they don't get enough to do. Plus the second act is very boring. Worst of all is how preventable this movie was. Daniela is one of the single dumbest horror movie characters of all time and that makes this movie hard to like from the get go.
4/10: Bad
#7. The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
The least memorable movie in the series. While it has talented leads, some dark moments, and great cinematography, this movie is incredibly boring and generic. Plus the characters are incompetent and stupid.
4/10: Bad
#8. Annabelle (2014)
Coming in dead last is Annabelle, the bottom of the barrel. It's horribly generic, it comes off as super cheap, and is flawed even on a technical level, which really stands out because of how well made The Conjuring films are. The acting is terrible, as is the writing, but worst of all, this movie is soooooo boring. There is one scene in the whole movie that is creepy and another that is unintentionally hilarious. This movie brings shame to the entire Conjuring universe.
2/10: Awful
So, that's my rankings! What do you think? Am I dead wrong or did I nail it? As far as I'm concerned, stick to the main series and ignore the spin-offs.
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