The Conjuring Universe is undoubtedly the most innovative horror franchise of its time. With real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren at the forefront, the film series has gained impressive momentum over recent years, producing a series of successful spin-offs.
It’s rare for a horror to produce so many side characters worthy of their own movie, but as we’ve seen with The Nun (2018), the Annabelle series (2014-2019) and the highly-anticipated The Crooked Man (2020), producer and director James Wan continues to captivate audiences with these unique and terrifying characters. With seven installments in the bag and many more to come, we take a look at every movie so far, ranked according to Rotten Tomatoes.
7 The Nun (2018) – 26% Rating
Despite the box office success (worldwide gross of $365.6 million, against a production budget of $22 million), The Nun was generally slated by critics and received an underwhelming 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In this prequel to The Conjuring series, the story centers around a priest and novice nun dispatched by the Vatican to investigate a mysterious suicide of a nun at a monastery in 1952 Romania – only to discover that this convent is home to an ancient evil.
The nun that demonizes the pair throughout the movie is the same character that appears in The Conjuring 2, stalking Lorraine Warren. It is later identified as the demon Valak.
While the movie heavily relies on the visuals of the nun herself, the creature’s motives are never fully explained, and the events of the movie seem to unravel rather ridiculously. The story itself may disappoint, but the scares certainly don’t.
6 The Curse of La Llorona (2019) – 29% Rating
The Curse of La Llorona didn’t quite manage to replicate the success of its predecessors, hitting just 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The story follows a Latin American folk tale about "The Crying Woman," a tormented mother who drowned her sons and in the mourning of her own children, now haunts other parents and tries to take their children away from them.
Linda Cardellini stars as a social worker who picks up the curse from one of her clients. However, even her impressive performance doesn’t save this spin-off, with the main criticism being that the movie simply isn’t scary enough.
While the critics may not have loved it, the fans still lapped it up, and the film certainly didn't suffer at the box office. This spin-off generated a worldwide total of $122 million, against a production budget of just $9 million. La Llorona may not have brought the scares, but she did roll in the cash.
5 Annabelle (2014) – 29% Rating
Annabelle is not the kind of doll that you could forget in a hurry. The demonic toy was first introduced to us in the original film, The Conjuring, where we see inside the Warren's legendary Occult Museum (which superfans can visit, by the way) for the first time. However, this movie is actually a prequel, following the doll's antics long before the Warrens got their hands on her. With fans immediately expressing an interest in the mysterious doll, Annabelle ran with her 15 minutes of fame and managed to bag herself three further solo movies.
Annabelle follows the story of a housewife who discovers that her new beloved collectible is possessed, and while the film did well in theaters, it only receives a mild 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie's low rating could be attributed to the lack of original scares throughout, but we'd also contest that its greatest fault is that it doesn't feature the Warrens.
4 Annabelle Comes Home (2019) – 64% Rating
Demonologist couple Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are connected to almost every movie in the franchise, and this particular installment happens to take place in their home. The story follows their daughter Judy, who accidentally unleashes Annabelle and some of her paranormal friends from the infamous artifact room. Needless to say, chaos ensues.
Annabelle Comes Home achieves a modest 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is admirable for a horror flick. The movie takes on a lighter tone in comparison to its predecessors, where some scenes appear to have come straight from a 90s' teenage rom-com.
3 Annabelle: Creation (2017) – 70% Rating
Finally, we get the Annabelle origin story we were all holding out for. Achieving a respectable 70% Rotten Tomatoes rating, Annabelle: Creation was an overall crowd-pleaser, satisfying the audience’s intrigue into this sinister doll. This chapter of the Conjuring Universe follows a doll-makers discovery that his first porcelain creation isn’t quite what he had intended to design, with dark events unfolding following the tragic death of his seven-year-old daughter.
2 The Conjuring 2 (2016) – 80% Rating
There's no denying that The Conjuring 2 had a lot to live up to, but three years after the original, we were treated to this impressive and equally horrifying follow-up. In this chapter, Ed and Lorraine Warren are summoned to Enfield, North London, where a working-class family is tormented by an aggressive poltergeist. One of the four daughters, Janet, seems to be the malicious spirit’s target.
Not only do we get a much-welcomed glimpse into Ed and Lorraine's relationship during this time, but we are also introduced to some of the Conjuring Universe's most important characters, such as The Nun and The Crooked Man, both of which have earned their own spin-off.
Receiving an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, we're glad to report that The Conjuring 2 didn’t disappoint, setting a high bar for The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It which follows in 2020.
1 The Conjuring (2013) – 85% Rating
It’s no surprise that the movie that started it all comes out on top in the Rotten Tomatoes ratings. The first and original in the series boasts an impressive 85% and still stands as one of the best horror movies of all time.
Inspired by the true paranormal events experienced by the Perron family, supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine are, of course, all over this, having built their reputation from the previous Amityville Horror case. The events experienced at the Perron household were truly spine-tingling and proved The Conjuring to be so much more than your average haunted house story. Keep them coming, we say!
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