Yahoo Autos All 'The Conjuring' horror movies, ranked (including HBO Max's new 'The Devil Made Me Do It')
Things go bump in the night frequently in "The Conjuring” universe, namely thanks to folks like the Crooked Man, the Nun and that creepy Annabelle – and, unfortunately for the ghostbusting couple at the heart of the movie series, they’re all hauntingly connected.
Headed up by James Wan, “The Conjuring” films have become a horror version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with spinoffs, characters who cross over between movies, and a couple of primary do-gooders in real-life paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren.
The latest chapter is the third main "Conjuring" movie, "The Devil Made Me Do It." Directed by Michael Chaves, the thriller features the Warrens tackling a 1981 case involving a body-hopping dark spirit and the first time in U.S. court history that demonic possession was used as a murder defense.
Fact-check: How much of 'The Conjuring' craziness is based on real life? (A lot)
These fright fests – which, interestingly, lean very female in terms of protagonists and antagonists – scare up decent box office, too: Four of the eight movies so far have topped $100 million. Of course there’s more to come, with a sequel to “The Nun” in development as is a spinoff with “Conjuring 2” creeper Crooked Man.
To mark the release of the latest, here are all the “Conjuring” movies, ranked from worst to best:
8. ‘The Nun’ (2018)
The 1950s-set prequel is an early story of Valak (Bonnie Aarons), the demon nun that stalks Lorraine in “The Conjuring 2,” and the priest (Demian Bichir) and the young novitiate (Taissa Farmiga) who encounter her while investigating a suicide at a Romanian abbey. There are hints of religious mystery and old-school adventure, but it’s a mostly dull and arduous entry that totally wastes Aarons’ chilling villainess of the cloth.
'The Nun': Why there's creepy appeal in unholy horror
7. ‘Annabelle’ (2014)
On paper, it draws some “Rosemary's Baby” comparisons with a pregnant woman battling a malevolent force and the involvement of a devil-worshipping cult. If only it held a candle to that classic: The first “Annabelle” sics the evil doll on a young couple (Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton) and their baby in 1967, with Father Perez (Tony Amendola) stepping in to try and exorcise the porcelain menace, yet this is a clichéd disappointment rather than good unholy terror.
6. ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ (2019)
Its connection to the rest of the “Conjuring” saga is glancing, with a cameo from Amendola’s Perez (and a flashback-y glimpse of Annabelle), and overall the film is a so-so tale of a widow (Linda Cardellini) and her kids beset by a supernatural entity. It’s a shame because "La Llorona" mines Mexican folklore to unleash a ghostly weeping woman in a wedding dress (Marisol Ramirez), whose terrifying look and sinister intentions rank right up there with the franchise’s best baddies (or worst, as the case may be).
