Nowadays, when you’re debating what films to stick on to get in the mood for the spooky season, The Conjuring or one of its many spin-offs will likely be amongst the first suggested. The 2013 film, directed by the horror mastermind behind the Saw and Insidious franchises James Wan, was given an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America because it was ‘simply too scary’. The film was also an undeniable box office success, raking in $319 million at the box office on a $20 million budget. It was only a year later that the first spin-off, Annabelle (2014), centred around the possessed doll featured in The Conjuring, was released. In the 10 years since the release of the first film, The Conjuring universe seemingly dominated the horror box office, grossing over $2.2 billion combined, and consequently becoming the highest grossing horror franchise. Now, these facts and figures are all well and good, but are the films actually any good? And what’s the point of having all these films? Are they all leading to some horror-esque Avengers: Endgame style finale?
As previously mentioned, the first Conjuring movie is widely regarded as a staple of modern horror. Not only does it harken back to classic haunted house movies like 1963’s The Haunting and 1982’s Poltergeist, but it provides a unique angle on the haunted house trope. The movie is based on the real-life case of the Perron family, who move into a farmhouse in Rhode Island and begin experiencing demonic activity, and consequently contacted paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Many, including myself, regard The Conjuring as a cookie-cutter supernatural horror film. The kind of horror film that makes you check under the bed and make you paranoid about getting up in the night. It stands out from other horror films for its familial angle, creative scares, and setting, since all of the Conjuring movies are period pieces set between the mid 1950s and early 1980s. The success of the first film generated a sequel, The Conjuring 2 (2016) and a spin-off Annabelle (2014), which in turn spawned two Annabelle sequels, and two spin-offs about the demonic nun seen in The Conjuring 2. The first two Conjuring films are generally regarded as the best of the franchise, whilst their sequels and spin-offs have received mixed to negative reception. Many regard the latter as cheap imitations of the original Conjuring films which rely on jump scares and have little to no narrative or interesting characters.
Having watched all these films myself, I can attest to the fact the franchise is a mixed bag of quality. Whilst they certainly do their job at occasionally scaring me and at the very least unsettling me, it is undeniable that they are effectively cash-ins on the franchise. But is this the sole reason for them sharing the same universe? Each film does attempt to narratively connect to one of the first two Conjuring films, with the Annabelle films showing how the allegedly possessed doll ended up in the possession of the Warrens, and the Nun films seemingly building up to the personal connection between the demonic Nun and Lorraine Warren. Whilst these connections do provide some interesting background and context to the Conjuring films, their wavering quality and originality puts into question whether they were necessary editions to the overarching story. Surely, the origin of the Annabelle doll and the nun could have been concisely explained in a single film each, and not panned out across multiple films? Both are exceptionally creepy horror villains, which makes their lack of story and scare originality of their own films feel like wasted potential. Granted, the Annabelle sequels were received better than the original, as did the recent The Nun II receive better reception than the first film. It seems almost as if Warner Bros were desperate to generate good spin-offs to the Conjuring films. It seems however that The Conjuring franchise has suffered the fate of many of Hollywood’s most well-known horror franchises; sequels upon sequels attempting to recapture the spark of the original. This however leads to my main point; do we need all of these films, or does the franchise need to end?
Personally, I believe the Conjuring franchise needs to end, or take a new direction. I most recently watched the third Annabelle sequel, Annabelle Comes Home (2019), which is the first in the franchise to be set at the Warren’s house. Whilst there was some really creative filmmaking going on in the film, there isn’t much of a story and as such it does feel written solely for the purpose of another cash-in on the franchise. The film revolves around the Annabelle doll controlling various entities originating from the artefacts in the Warren’s special designated room. A bride, a samurai, a ferryman, and a big black dog allegedly from Essex show up in this film to contribute to the scares. What are their stories? How did they end up in the Warren’s artefact room? This suggests to me there is potential to explore each of the Warren’s cases based around these entities. After all, most of the films are based on the Warren’s real life case files; creator James Wan even stating he originally intended the series to be called ‘The Warren Files’. There was even a cancelled spin-off about ‘The Crooked Man’, a demonic entity who appeared in The Conjuring 2, and is based on the 19th century nursery rhyme ‘There was a Crooked Man’. Nevertheless, it seems Warner Bros would rather churn out sequels about the same horror villains with the same generic stories rather than exploring these new stories. I believe making films about different entities which all end up in the Warren’s case files would substantially benefit the franchise. They would reinvigorate it with some much needed originality, unique stories and settings, and connect the universe together in a coherent way. Otherwise, the waining originality and quality of the Conjuring films may be an indication it’s time to lock the franchise away in a box and give other horror films a shot in the limelight. I like to think I’m quite optimistic about films, but when a franchise has produced a mixed bag of releases quality-wise, it makes it difficult. Given time, I would be impartial to seeing a Freddy vs Jason-style showdown between the Nun and Annabelle, but I can only hope.
G does Films 