The Conjuring Franchise and the Warrens’ Haunted History
This past week I did what most horror fans do when there is a final installment in a horror franchise: watch all the films in a marathon. I was especially excited for The Conjuring: Last Rites because it was such an iconic series, branching off into both the Annabelle and The Nun series.
Plus, I also got to see the Susie doll, safely behind a glass case of course, when I went to the Houston Horror Film Festival.
What I love most about these films, besides the obvious fear factor, is that it teases the “truth” of what really happened, but the real essence of truth exists in a blurry line between fact and fiction.
In the case of the Warrens, the married paranormal investigators at the heart of the franchise, controversy, skepticism, and outright accusations of fraud shadow every tale. It is here, I think, where the rawest part of The Conjuring films really lives.
The Power of the Original Conjuring (2013)
James Wan’s The Conjuring set the tone for a new era of supernatural horror. With found-footage horror becoming oversaturated, after its heavy run in the early 2000s, and 3D effects being prominently featured everywhere, the first Conjuring film felt like a breath of fresh air because it was clearly an homage to horror of the best.
Long wide shots revealed something dreadful in the corner, sharp close-ups focused on terrified eyes, and the sound design was masterful;’ every creak and whisper felt like another dagger to the spine.
The real story, however, is the fact that the story was a take on something real. While horror has before focused on real news or a real case, this felt distinctly personal. This is not the first time Ed and Lorraine’s cases featured in horror movies. The Amityville Horror (1979), The Haunted (1991), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) and so forth, and while the Warrens were featured or mentioned in other films, this was the first one that felt want so immersive.
This was largely because Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga were phenomenal in their roles, casting the Warrens as both compassionate and burdened. They didn’t want to be paranormal investigators, but it was their sacred and honored duty.
In real life, the Warrens’ reputation was already complicated. Was Bathsheba Sherman a witch? A child murderer? A poor woman who suffered from paralysis and then died from a stroke (unlike the movie’s suicide angle). Audience members could ignore this scapegoating, because the film captured what we hoped the Warrens were, a duo that lived in two worlds and sought to bring comfort to troubled families.
And thus, a franchise was born.
The Conjuring 2 (2016) and the Enfield Poltergeist
The Conjuring 2, also directed by Wan, took fear across the Atlantic for the famous Enfield Poltergeist. There, the Hodgson family’s London home came alive with rattling furniture, levitations, and the terrifying image of Janet Hodgson slipping into the deep growl of a dead man. While the CGI certainly looks dated by today’s standards, The Conjuring 2 felt different in the way new villains and monsters were introduced. The Crooked Man (based on a traditional English nursery rhyme) and Valak the demon nun both stole the show in equal measure.
But this also made the plot somewhat convoluted with the number of subplots happening at once. I can appreciate, as can many fans, that the film was trying to do something different.
The film also played with enough ambiguity, such as the historical photo of Janet Hodgson “levitating,” that it retained a sense of eeriness and dread. One could overlook that the children admitted to faking incidents and that the whole situation was overblown.
According to Guy Lyon Playfair, who investigated the case, the Warrens “turned up uninvited and stayed for a day.” Still, The Conjuring 2 kept the heroic nature of the couple and retained enough of its charm to give the franchise a firm footing.
The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
The franchise tried yet another new approach with The Devil Made Me Do It, directed by Michael Chaves. The story moved away from the haunted house formula to the courtroom, dramatizing the 1981 trial of Arne Johnson, who claimed demonic possession compelled him to murder his landlord.
The true-crime aspect coupled with the supernatural horror could have worked, but it felt a little out of place. The movie, at times, felt overtly dramatic, with bloated chase scenes, and then threw in demonic showdowns that came across as formulaic and contrived.
Moreover, by now seasoned moviegoers understood that the Warrens on screen were certainly not like the Warrens off screen, including the 2017 sexual abuse allegations.
Additionally, Arne Johnson was sentenced to 10–20 years, and the court outright rejected the possession claim, which made it seem like an odd choice to paint this all as an epic battle between good and evil.
It just felt like supernatural theatre.
The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
And now, we enter the final chapter of the main Conjuring saga. The Conjuring: Last Rites follows Ed and Lorraine Warren as they unwillingly investigate the Smurl family haunting in West Pittston, Pennsylvania.
Much of the film focuses on Judy Warren, including a prologue set in 1964 where Lorraine had a strange vision related to an antique mirror that coincided with an almost-miscarriage.
As always, Farmiga and Wilson give stellar performances, but while I personally enjoyed the inclusion of Judy Warren and the iconography of the mirror, it still felt flat. The film, to me, seemed overtly formulaic despite moments designed to be shocking.
For example, while Susie the doll worked as a really fun and extremely creepy gag, it still felt like Annabelle’s kid cousin.
The Smurl case itself is one of the more contested Warren investigations, and many details have been questioned in terms of credibility. Regardless of whether or not one is a believer, I felt the film was lacking in what was supposed to be a huge sendoff to a couple audiences have grown to love for the past decade.
The First Conjuring Film Still Haunts Best
Are the Warrens saviors or storytellers? Can two things be true at once? Regardless of whether you are a skeptic or a strong believer, there remains little doubt about the cultural impact Ed and Lorraine had on the paranormal.
And that is largely why the first film is still the most powerful. Perhaps this is because part of that power came from the time before spoilers, hot takes, and viral skepticism became the norm. The relative innocence allowed the first film to present the Warrens’ story without all the controversy, without the need to top what came before, and with a case that felt like whispered folklore instead of a public debate.
In many ways, there may be no truly getting back that original magic. Last Rites tries by returning to emotional roots, by making Judy a central figure, and by leaning into the toll the Warrens’ work takes, but I think it is time to truly let the franchise rest and focus on the aspects that continue to make the spin-offs, like The Nun and Annabelle, shine.
Who knows, maybe we will finally see a Crooked Man film in the future.
Watching The Conjuring Franchise in Order
If you want to frame your own opinion on The Conjuring franchise, I highly suggest you check out the films for yourself. Knowing where to start can be tricky, though, since the release order doesn’t line up with the timeline of events in the story.
Thus, you have two choices I recommend:
Watching in Release Order:
The Conjuring (2013)
Annabelle (2014)
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
The Nun (2018)
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
The Nun II (2023)
The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
Watching in Chronological Order:
The Nun (1952)
Annabelle: Creation (1955)
Annabelle (1967)
The Conjuring (1971)
Annabelle Comes Home (1972)
The Conjuring 2 (1977)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (1981)
The Nun II (1980s)
The Conjuring: Last Rites (mid-1980s, Smurl case)
Questions Audiences Ask About The Conjuring Films
-
The Conjuring franchise is a collection of supernatural horror films inspired by the real-life case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a married pair of paranormal investigators. The movies blend haunted house scares, demonic possessions, and cursed objects with dramatized versions of the Warrens’ most infamous cases.
-
In release order, the films are: The Conjuring (2013), Annabelle (2014), The Conjuring 2 (2016), Annabelle: Creation (2017), The Nun (2018), The Curse of La Llorona (2019), Annabelle Comes Home (2019), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), The Nun II (2023), and The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025). Chronologically, the timeline starts with The Nun (1952) and ends with The Conjuring: Last Rites in the mid-1980s.
-
Yes, but only loosely. Each film draws from a real Warren investigation, such as the Perron family haunting, the Enfield Poltergeist, or the Arne Johnson trial. Historians and skeptics often argue that the Warrens exaggerated or fabricated parts of their stories, leaving the truth somewhere between folklore and fiction.
-
Most fans and critics agree that the original Conjuring is the scariest. Its farmhouse setting, slow-burn pacing, and chilling atmosphere created a sense of dread that later sequels struggled to match. The Conjuring 2 is also highly regarded, particularly for the Crooked Man and Valak sequences.
-
Not necessarily. The spin-offs expand the lore, with Annabelle diving into the cursed doll’s backstory and The Nun exploring the demon Valak. However, you can watch only the mainline films and still understand the Warren-centered storyline.
-
Streaming availability changes frequently, but the Conjuring films are often hosted on platforms like Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime Video. Availability depends on region, so checking your preferred streaming service before starting your marathon is best.
-
The Conjuring: Last Rites has been promoted as the final chapter of the main saga. It focuses on the Smurl family haunting and brings Judy Warren into the spotlight. While it closes the mainline series, the popularity of the franchise means spin-offs like The Nun or Annabelle may continue.
DIVE DEEPER INTO CINEMA WITH MORE FILM ARTICLES
Explore The Conjuring films in order, their true stories, and the Warrens’ controversies. From Annabelle to Last Rites, fact vs. fiction unfolds.