There are a lot of cinematic universes going around, but none of them sends chills down your spine quite like the Conjuring franchise does. The Conjuring might be about to release only its third solo movie, but the many spin-offs from the franchise so far include three Annabelle’ films, The Nun, The Curse of La Llorona, and The Crooked Man. These have all made this franchise easily one of the more expansive, second only to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. But with these stories focusing on haunted ghosts rather than superheroes, it has fortunately set itself apart from the rest (in a way Universal’s Dark Universe never could realise) and has turned these many low-budget horror movies into box office hits.
Outside of the few returning ghosts in the movies, not many human characters have featured across multiple movies other than the Warren’s, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga who started it all back in 2013 with the first film. They’re back as paranormal investigators, with the stakes arguably higher than ever as seen in the first trailer for The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It.
This time around, the Warrens are once again trying to protect a family from a certain ghastly entity that might be Satan himself, while trying to convince the world that demons do exist. It’s a tried and tested formula of what we’ve seen from the other movies, but hopefully this time with the stakes even higher, it could make this film scarier than the rest.
The biggest challenge this film has will be in trying to keep things fresh, after all of the above-mentioned films have kind of copied the jump scare formula to death. I love the first Conjuring film and aspects of The Annabelle films but there is a lot about this franchise that quickly gets stale and predictable and while some scares are still to be had, the experience is far less satisfying over time. Hopefully, this is the one curse the Warrens can break this time around.
Last Updated: April 23, 2021
