Tag Archives: the conjuring universe

The Case That Ended It All… and the Love That Carried It.

11 Thursday Sep 2025

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There’s a line I keep coming back to when watching The Conjuring: Last Rites: “The case that ended it all.” Not just for Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose final chapter this is meant to be, but for the sprawling universe their names have conjured into existence. Like every haunting, it’s less about the cold spots and whispers in the dark than it is about the people who believed enough to chase them. And at the heart of all this chasing, for over a decade now, have been Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.

If the devil lives in the details, then the soul of this franchise lives in their eyes. Wilson’s steady but haunted Ed, Farmiga’s luminous and fierce Lorraine—they’ve carried us through nun sightings, cursed dolls, crooked men, and endless houses rattling at 3 a.m. What’s remarkable is not that they convinced us to be afraid, but that they convinced us to believe in love. Their bond has been the true connective tissue of the Conjuring Universe, more powerful than holy water or a crucifix.

Michael Chaves, who has already carved his name into the annals of this cinematic scripture (The Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Nun II), is tasked with the ultimate rite: closing the circle. He doesn’t swing for jump-scares or gore this time. Instead, he stages something quieter, almost tender. Yes, there are entities in shadowy corners, and the Warrens must confront forces that seem beyond human comprehension. But the real confrontation is with time, mortality, and the question of what we leave behind.

Watching Last Rites feels less like entering a haunted house and more like attending a vigil. Each scene reminds us that the Conjuring films were never really about demons—it was about the Warrens looking into the abyss together, hand in hand. And while the scares are muted, the harmony between Wilson and Farmiga remains intact, their chemistry now weathered but stronger, a testament to why audiences kept returning long after the first clap in the dark.

For longtime followers, this is less exorcism and more benediction. Chaves doesn’t so much slam the door shut as pass the candlelight forward. Whether the torch will ignite future stories in this universe, or flicker out with a final prayer, remains unknown. But there’s a sense of closure—like the last page of a well-worn case file, annotated not just with facts and evidence, but with love letters written in the margins.

The Prognosis:

If you came looking for terror, you may leave unsatisfied. But if you came looking for a farewell—an elegy for the haunted hearts who dared to investigate the impossible—then The Conjuring: Last Rites offers exactly that. A requiem, not for the dead, but for a love that kept the darkness at bay.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: The Nun 2 (2023)

18 Monday Sep 2023

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Here’s the thing with James Wan and the Conjuring Universe. The credo “if they don’t care, they
don’t scare” runs strong with him. For Wan & co, scares are good, but tension is better.

Which instantly tells you, they think about their films. And by that, I mean, they seem to air-check.
them. Especially new ones they enter into their franchise.

What evidence do we have to support this? Three off the top of our head, Annabelle Creation, The
Conjuring 2 and Insidious 2. (Although before you get up in arms, YES we know technically
Insidious isn’t part of the TCU, but spiritually it is – pun intended)

So, what do these movies have in common? Answer: they are all better than their chronological
predecessor. (Although I’ll also admit this is a bit of a stretch with The Conjuring, as that was a pretty
decent first outing. But its sequel is arguably at least as strong). And back to the point at hand, re:
the other 2 films, as far as Annabelle (blah) and Insidious (paint-by-numbers) is concerned, their 2nd
instalments are magnitudes better.

It’s as if the Wan production ethos is to sit down and say “Ok. I know we made money off these.
films, but where can we make them better? And what mistakes can we eliminate?”.

If this is true, it’s a very egoless way to run a production company (very rare in real life).
And regardless, the results speak for themselves; for whatever you think about the Wan cinematic.
universe, you have to admit there is something to the formula he and his team have developed.
Sure, their flicks are slick and therefore overtly “Hollywood”, but they are successful, and they are.
not afraid to develop & improve within their mainstream constraints.

So, it was with this framework I went into the Nun II a little keen. After all, even taking OUT the
above elements as a factor, the first film was so excrementally ordinary the filmmakers could have
got an Ai bot to write the script (YIKE! Uber sensitive topic at the time I’m publishing this – be
interesting to see how that all plays out, eh? Saul Muerte?) and it would have been better by a factor of 11.

Anyway – The Nun II picks up a year (We think…? It’s never really stated) after the first movie and 2
of our main leads are still with us. Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene, and Jonas Bloquet’s Maurice
(Frenchie).

The 3rd lead from the first film – Demian Bichir’s Father Burke – we soon learn has died off camera.
between movies. An accident? Or tactical foresight by Bichir? Maybe the demon did it…

For those of you who remember how we left it at the end of movie 1, The Nun was beaten, BUT
Frenchie was exorcist style infected by it. So he’s like a bad guy now….

And this new film doesn’t forget that, but they also go the route that Frenchie doesn’t control the
Nun possessing him; so he’s back to being a good guy, trying to stop the Nun from doing….what
exactly?

Well, it turns out she needs him to kill a bunch of people who are protecting an artifact macguffin
that will give her super-duper powers (or something) although the exact same artefact can inversely.
destroy her (natch).

Sister Irene is then pitted along with a new sidekick Sister Debra, played by Missing’s Storm Reid)
to take on The Nun in a school that is built over a deconsecrated monastery. (Frenchie works as a
caretaker in that school, you see).

Cue jump scares and what not.

The main cast is mostly female – yet more fuel for anti-woke men to lose their shit over… oh won’t
anybody think of the men!?? – with Narnia’s Anna Popplewell in the mix in a role thoroughly
underwhelming for her talent.

For you see, the Wan sequel formulae has failed this instalment big time; to the point I’m having a
hard time disbelieving he sat down in front of his team and said “Hey – in the spirit of switching
things up, how about we make this one worse?”.

It had such a low bar to jump over, but the Nun II is not only ordinary, it commits the unforgiveable
sin of not being scary. Like… at all. The movie at best has about 2 to 3 creepy moments, and that’s it.
The plot is holey (geddit) and internal logic wise, it just makes no sense. Even down to who the Nun
actually is. At several points she seems to appear in several guises at once as her nun avatar and its
original demon form Valek; but if it has the ability to be in more than 2 places at once in multiple
forms, then why does it even bother? By definition such power makes it impossible to beat, as she
can be anywhere she wants to be, yet it seems to go out of its way to not kill anyone (unless it’s a
random character we don’t care about – see 2nd sentence of this review) and its ability to appear in
different forms at different (or the same) time have no logical consistency at all.

Tassia Farmiga is utterly charmless (which is partially the fault of her character. But even if she is an
unworldly emissary of God, she can still be funny, or witty, or steely or something! Instead, she
presents as older and boring-er than she was the first-time round). Plus, several other characters
make some truly idiotic decisions.

The Prognosis:

Not just disappointing, it’s completely pointless. And to prove this with facts, it’s box office return is
already TRIPLE its budget. In an age where the inmates run the asylum, what further proof do you
need? Nun.

  • Antony Yee

Movie Review: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

03 Thursday Jun 2021

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The Warrens are back to conjure up the third instalment to the haunting tales based on the books written by Ed & Lorraine Warren, self professed demonologist and psychic (respectively), and the real life events of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who in 1981 stabbed his land lord to death and they had a claim of demon possession in an attempt to get him off.

Putting the real life events to the side, the film was beautifully shot and constructed with a kind of precise planning that gives the viewer the confidence to see a kid contorting its possessed ickle body to cracking sounds and not instantly think the filmmakers had resorted to child abuse, but rather consider the plethora of crazy safety protocols that must go into filming such a scene.
[sigh]
Gone are the carefree, guerrilla days of The Adventures of Milo and Otis.

Ed and Lorraine are portrayed once again by the talented Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga continuing to keep the heart of these films lodged comfortably in your throat.
James Wan hands the reigns to Michael Chaves who brings the addition of many little homages from popular horror film culture such as The Exorcist and Re-animator while slotting in to the rhythm that keeps these movies franchising so well.

The Diagnosis:

Chaves demonstrated his understanding of the conjuring universe when he directed The Curse of La Llorona (or the Curse of the Weeping Woman) in 2019 and it seems clear that his vision for this universe aligns perfectly and will to continue tighten its hold over our fascination.

  • Richard Lovegrove

Movie review: Annabelle Comes Home

05 Friday Jul 2019

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Like a cabin in the woods filled with a basement of evil paranormal beasties, this latest edition to The Conjuring universe features good ol’ 70s style babysitter shenanigans along with fresh new souls to welcome the return as, Annabelle Comes Home.

First time director, Gary Dauberman, is no stranger to the franchise having been screenwritter for Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017), and The Nun (2018) as well as the co-writer for the remake of Stephen King’s  It (2017) and its upcoming sequel It Chapter Two (2019).

Annabelle Comes Home keeps audiences on the edge of their seats with an awesome sound design, some nice fake outs, creepy reveals, great gimmicks – providing you can look past a continuity error when one of the game pieces suddenly changes colour from red to green.

  • Richard Lovegrove

Movie review: The Curse of the Weeping Woman

18 Thursday Apr 2019

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Taking place within the universe of The Conjuring, The Curse of the Weeping Woman (or The Curse of La Llorona internationally) is the first feature length work from director Michael Chaves. With strong casting choices throughout, what would be an otherwise typical film for the genre was transformed into a well-balanced, well-paced and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Based upon the Mexican folk story ‘La Llorona’, or The Weeping Woman, who drowned her two sons in an act of revenge when jilted by her husband for a younger bride, La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez) was cursed to roam the Earth searching for children to replace those she lost. It is said that there is no escape from her once you hear her weeping and feel her tears against your skin.

Thus we find Anna (Linda Cardellini), a case worker and single mother to two children following the death of her husband, when Patricia (played by Patricia Velasquez who was Anck-Su-Namun in The Mummy Franchise… The Brendan Fraser Mummy Franchise… The good one) curses Cardellini’s children to be the next in La Llorona’s sights, leading her kids to get the fright of their short lives in a great little car sequence. Strong performances by Chris (Roman Christou) and his sister Sam (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen) who deliver noteworthy scenes throughout the film.

Many innovative effects make an appearance with a fun sequence near the pool involving an umbrella, using simple masking techniques that would make Georges Méliès proud, but in the critical eye of our 4k resolution era may come off a little cheesy, yet I find myself applauding the filmmakers for allowing creative risks to be taken. Another moment that stays with you is an eerie bathroom scene will see you bathing using the buddy system.

The pace of the film takes a turn when Anna seeks out the assistance of former priest Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz) who completely steals the show with his dry wit and deadpan delivery that make you want to come back for more.

With cinematography by Hollywood royalty Michael Burgess and James Wan in the producer’s seat you know you’re in for a good time. Paying homage to recurring themes within the universe to connect stories in a way that can only advance its reach while at the same time terrifying audiences.

The Diagnosis:

Not quite scary enough to provoke cardiac arrest but enjoyable, particularly with a deadpan dose of Raymond Cruz.

  • Surgeon Richard Lovegrove & Anesthesiologist Kelsi Williams

Movie review: The Nun

13 Thursday Sep 2018

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As I write this review The Nun has just broken records by pushing The Conjuring franchise into the no.1 spot for horror movies.
James Wan’s original vision continues to develop and grow beyond its initial premise to scare and delight the masses.
Some clever marketing was behind The Nun’s box office appeal, enticing audiences with the promise to scare and chill to the bone came from its trailer, (essentially one big jump scare) but when you lift back the veil and look beyond the smoke and mirrors, does the film really deserve the hype that it generated?

To Wan’s credit his style has been present throughout all the movies and the production company have often given up and coming or promising directors to weave their magic for a wider audience.
This is why I was quietly interested in seeing how The Nun would fair as director Corin Hardy had been passed the torch to continue flaming the fires of horror.
His debut feature The Hallow, which didn’t exactly ignite the cinematic world, did show promise in a world saturated through pain and sorrow infused with folk mythology. With those ingredients, The Nun looked like it was in capable hands.

Instead we were provided with a series of jump scares knitted together with an incredibly loose plot. Sure, there was plenty of backstory to Valak the Nun, and how that entity was inflicted onto the world, but beyond that it was like watching blood dry on the walls. Moments of congealing perhaps, but still just the same blood and the same wall. At least with Annabelle: Creation (another origin story from the same universe) there were some clever uses of cinematography and effects that tricked the eye and allowed to entertain as a result. The Nun offered nothing and was a huge let down as a result.

If it did have a redeeming feature, it was that the three leads, Taissa Farmiga, Demián Bichir, and Jonas Bloquet were actually pretty decent in their respective roles despite having little to play with. Having said that, it was a little confusing to see Taissa Farmiga, sister to Vera who plays Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring movies, as quite naturally they share similar features and it left you wondering the inherent purpose behind that choice. For me it was distracting but more from the ending of the movie than the main bulk of the film.

The Diagnosis:

A paint-by-numbers horror movie that relied on jump scares and lack of inventiveness. Too often the direction relied on obvious tricks of the trade whilst it tried to weave in a decent backstory to Valak, who was far from sinister or scary compared to her introduction in The Conjuring 2. The success of this movie will mean that a sequel will be in the works, let’s just hope they allow the demonic nun the chance to really let loose.
– Saul Muerte