8. “Annabelle” (“Annabelle”), 2014, dir. John R. Leonetti
The first spinoff of “The Conjuring” was released a year after the original film premiered and turned out to be the least successful installment of the franchise (at least among those officially recognized; by some signs, several episodes). other films can be attributed to it, but about them another time). The villain here is Annabelle, the “possessed” baby introduced in The Conjuring’s prologue, and the object of her terror is young mother Mia (entertainingly played by an actress named Annabelle Wallis, star of Peaky Blinders). The film certainly has a retro aesthetic (the action takes place in late 1960s California), but what happens is largely ruined by the slow pacing and event-hungry plot.
7. Annabelle: Creation, 2017, dir. David F. Sandberg
The shooting of the prequel of Annabelle, which tells the story of the origin of the “captured” doll, was entrusted to David F. Sandberg, director of the acclaimed horror movie Lights Out…. The creators of the series, James Wan and Peter Safran, made the right decision with this choice: Second In Annabelle, Sandberg does not rely solely on skiers, which was the sin of his predecessor, John R. Leonetti, in the first one. partially, but it confidently maintains an oppressive atmosphere. This also rhymes – especially because of its setting (a makeshift orphanage in an extremely arid region) – with Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, which is a big plus in itself.
6. “Sister 2” (“Sister 2”), 2023, dir. Michael Chavez
The sequel to the Curse of the Nun, directed by Michael Chavez, director of the third Conjuring (entered the franchise through the “adopted child” – the useless horror The Curse of the Weeping Woman, in which Father Perez from Annabelle appears), lost a little the strong gothic charge of the first parts, It devoted criminally little time to Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloque’s duet, which emigrated from there, and also came across as generally less spooky than its predecessor. However, this branch of “The Conjuring” looks overall more successful than the episode dedicated to the Annabelle doll, perhaps due to the fact that it is the demon Valak himself who for some reason resembles Marilyn Manson dressed as a monk. scarier creature.
5. “Nun” (“Nun”), 2018, dir. Corin Hardy
The first “Priestess’ Curse” is when the vibration atones for all sins. As in the second part of “Annabelle,” the director here is Corin Hardy, the director of the recently released horror film “Out of Darkness” (the cinematographer is currently working on the crime series “Gangs of London”). This episode of “The Conjuring” fully allows its scariest monster, the demon Valak, to appear not just anywhere, but also in a gloomy Romanian monastery. The film also features the franchise’s second most successful on-screen couple (both notably featuring sisters Vera and Taissa Farmiga). The result of all this was the most commercially powerful film in the horror universe ($365 million gross).
4. Annabelle Comes Home, 2019, dir. Gary Dauberman
We get it: not the most obvious choice for “wooden medal.” In our defense, we can say this: If you think like Goosebumps (the ones related to R.L. Stine’s books) that work, it’s easy to fall in love with the third Annabelle. The concept here is essentially the same: the kids, thanks to their stupidity, free a horde of monsters from captivity and are forced to deal with them on their own. Seen this way, a local bug becomes a feature: This isn’t an adult horror movie boiled down to kid-horror, but a kids’ horror movie that goes all out (if you’re wondering what to watch with your teenager on Halloween, excuse me Pumpkin Springs , Annabelle 3 is more than enough). In addition, the film turns out to be an extremely elegant solution to a long-overdue crossover: here, in fact, the main characters, residents of the secret museum warehouse, ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, are released into the wild, and their daughter Judy confronts the monsters.
3. “Magic”, 2013, dir. James Wan
The first three open with the first “The Conjuring,” the film that opens the entire series. The film proved that James Wan is a real magician: This is the third horror series he started (after “Saw” and “Insidious”, which gained cult status. “The Conjuring” also gave us one of the most delightful married couples in the history of cinema. Ana The prototypes of the characters were real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (the couple’s most famous case is “The Amityville Horror”, which itself spun off into a separate series), and their images were portrayed on the big screen by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. And the thing is, their relationship You don’t worry about them any more than you worry about your own relationship, because their relationships are ideal and you don’t need to worry about them.
2. “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do This”, 2021, dir. Michael Chavez
It’s not entirely clear what exactly James Wan and his co-writer Peter Safran were able to see in “The Weeper’s Curse,” but their vision turned out to be unmistakable. Directed by “The Crying” writer Michael Chavez rather than Wan himself, the third episode of “The Conjuring” stands out markedly from the rest of the series. First, the Warrens don’t face the usual demons and ghosts here, but encounter a bloodthirsty witch during their chilling adventure. Second, what happens is wrapped up in a glossy detective story that also includes a dash of legal drama. This not-so-obvious mix leads to a completely unique atmosphere that manages to surpass not only all the spin-offs, but also the original film. Let’s not blame everything on the devil – we gave this film the “silver” award of our own free will.
1. “The Conjuring 2”, 2016, dir. James Wan
The second Conjuring, in which the Warrens travel to the suburbs of London (the film is based on the famous Enfield Poltergeist case), was the absolute high point of the entire series, as well as arguably the strongest directorial work of Wan’s career. A heavy monster was introduced in this episode – the creepy demon Valak, who takes the form of a nightmare priestess, and the Hunchback (aka the Crooked Man), who is no less a nightmare than a nursery rhyme. “The Conjuring 2” is the scariest and most exciting installment of the entire film cycle; In this way, “The Conjuring” managed not only to pay homage to the classics of horror cinema (this was masterfully achieved in the first episode), but also to squeeze itself into it.