The Conjuring Universe

The Conjuring Universe is considered one of the greatest horror series of all times. Being loosely based on the real life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, James Wan has proven to be a master at the art of making horror movies. As great as the series is as a whole, not every movie in the franchise is as scary as the last. For my first project, my goal is to rate each movie of the series from the not so scary to what I consider to be the scariest movie of this iconic franchise. Before I begin, I will state that there may be a few spoilers ahead, especially for the newest addition to the franchise.

8. The Least Scariest- The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It

With COVID-19 still ravaging the world, there was a lot of hype when the release date for the third Conjuring movie in theaters and HBO Max. However, even though it was deemed the scariest movie of the franchise since the Nun, this movie was highly disappointing. Based on the real life case of Arne Johnson, this movie had a lot of promise as the idea of a horror movie based on the man who put the entire country's belief in the supernatural on trial, but the movie not only sidetracked from the main concept of the movie and practically ruined it right away. What made the movie even worse was their reliance of jumpscares rather than the actual horror involved with dealing with the supernatural. In all honesty, the only good part about the entire movie was the opening exorcism. Other than that, the movie was nowhere near as great as its predecessors.

7. Annabelle Comes Home

This movie was far better than the third Conjuring movie as far as the scare factor goes, but this movie was one bad movie away from being considered the worst of the Conjuring Universe. Telling the story of all that happened when the Warrens brought the cursed doll back to their home in order to keep it from hurting anyone else, this movie ended up as a giant mess and "collaboration" of all the other artifacts from the Warrens' collection. There didn't seem to be much of a horror factor to it regarding the doll it was named for, which really took away from the story and the horror that could have made this movie great. In all honesty, if the movie had focused on the doll it was named for and less on the rest of the mess, the movie might have turned out much better than it actually did.

6. Annabelle: Creation

Yet another sequel that didn't live up to expectations of every moviegoer who looked forward to this movie. Trying to put a completely unnecessary backstory to the doll, this movie was nowhere near as scary as the first installment of the Annabelle trilogy, but it was slightly scarier than Annabelle Comes Home. After all, the little girl that was Annabelle was truly creepy even before she was a demon. Also, knowing that the girl who was adopted by the Higgins and ran away before the events of Annabelle was a good move, but it still wasn't anywhere near as great as the first movie.

5. The Conjuring 2

Of all the movies that were pretty bad, this one was the least disasterous. It wasn't anywhere near as scary as the first movie, but it was far better than the last three movies. To be honest, the movie was ruined by a bad experience in the theaters that made it hard to be scared by the movie (I will explain later in another article), but it was still pretty great. Based on the true case of the Enfield house, this movie adds the right amount of true events and fictional padding to make a decent horror movie that frightens better than almost half the series. My only other real problem with the movie was how much time was spent trying to introduce a new antagonist that was too easily defeated, especially when the ghost huanting the house was scary enough. Honestly, trying to give the ghost a redeeming arc was a pretty bad idea.

4. The Nun

As unnecessary as this movie was, especially since this character was an especially unnecessary add-on to the Conjuring 2, this movie wasn't exactly the worst, but it wasn't the greatest, either. Deemed the scariest Conjuring movie when it was released, this movie didn't hols a light to the other movies, even if it was an original idea meant to explain the exorcism clip from the first Conjuring movie. Telling the story of a demon that finally broke free and killed an entire covenant of nuns, this movie had a great mix of undefeatable, terrifying beings that chase the main characters and the right amount of jumpscares to season the horror. The only thing that could have possibly made this movie even better would be the "based on a true story" factor that about half the movies of the Conjuring Universe has. Kudos for the originality, especially with how they executed the scare factors, but it still isn't top of the list.

3. The Conjuring

Ah, the classics... The first installment was by far the best of the Conjuring movies, but, unfortunately, it doesn't take the top spot on this list. The first Conjuring movie set the stage for the entire Conjuring universe, yet it was outshined by a few sequals, which often happens to the best of series. With a great soundtrack and outstanding performances on what is considered the Warren's most famous case yet, this movie frightened people for years until it was outshined by another movie, but this movie still holds a place of honor in this list due to the originality and classic horror elements that made this movie so great.

2. The Cuse of La Lllarona

In my personal opinion, this movie should be at the top of the list, but, due to the inclusion of the #1 spot, this movie falls just short, though only by a hair. Based on the Mexican legend of La Llarona, the weeping lady, this movie brings to life the Mexican urban legend and takes a deeper dive on the horror of this historical figure from Mexican culture. Even though the original legend makes it to where safety is a possibility, this movie takes away the safety feature of the urban legend, making this cursed woman something to be absolutely terrified of. This movie gave me nightmares for weeks, especially since my family grew up with the urban legend of La Llarona, and it is by far one of the scariest, most realistic rooted addition to the Conjuring Universe, and I can' wait to see if they add anything to it to make it even better.

1. The Scariest of the Conjuring Movies- Annabelle

Many people know the Raggedy Ann dolls, and some of us even had one once upon a time. What a lot of us don't know is that Annabelle is based of a real life case of a possessed Raggedy Ann doll locked away within the artifact room of the Warren's home. The movie based on the origin of the Annabelle doll (not Annabelle creations) was a work of art that expanded the Conjuring Universe and, along with the help of the Conjuring, set the stage for all sequals. In all honesty, the only reason why this movie is considered the scariest is because of the changes they made to the doll in order to add on to the scare factor. If this movie had been about a Raggedy Ann doll, not this porceline nightmare and the demon that uses it, the Curse of La Llarona would have been a shoo in for the scariest Conjuring Universe movie, however, thanks to the nightmarish doll, this movie has proven to tbe the scariest of the entire Conjuring Universe.