Conjuring: “outrageously ridiculous”, it’s the worst film in the horror saga!

With more than $2 billion collected at the international box office, the Conjuring saga is the most lucrative horror franchise in cinema to date. Released in theaters on September 13, The Nonne 2 has already recorded $162 million in revenue for a budget of 38 million greenbacks.

If the films of the main Conjuring saga are rather appreciated by spectators, notably Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case released in 2016, which recorded a rating of 4.1/5, this is not always the case for the derivative films.

Thus, the spin-offs Annabelle (2014) and The Nun (2018) have an average viewer rating of 2.1/5 stars on AlloCiné, making them the two lowest-rated films in the Conjuringverse.

Criticisms which did not prevent the first film centered on the demonic nun from collecting $365 million at the international box office and becoming the most profitable feature film in the franchise.

Note, however, that Annabelle has been rated 7007 times compared to “only” 4487 times for The Nonne, and receives the greatest number of negative reviews. It is therefore the film about the terrifying doll which wins the title of worst film in the Conjuring saga according to AlloCiné Internet users.

Annabelle, worst film in the Conjuring saga

Released in October 2014, a year after Conjuring: The Warren Files, the film by John R. Leonetti is the first feature film derived from the mother saga. It is a prequel to Conjuring since the film centered on Annabelle takes place 5 years before the doll found herself locked up with Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga).

In this film, a young couple (Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton) find the doll in a box when they thought they had gotten rid of it. Terrifying paranormal events then occur. They eventually escape and, six months later, a woman buys the toy for her daughter which we will find at the beginning of the first Conjuring film…

Just like Conjuring, the film is inspired by one of the Warren couple’s files. According to the Warrens’ actual records, the doll was given to a little girl by her mother in the 1970s.

Made of rag – and not porcelain like in the films – it kept moving and sending strange messages. One day, she even tried to strangle someone.

To elucidate the mystery surrounding the doll, the Warrens were dispatched to the owners, and the latter did not hesitate to get rid of it. The couple of exorcists had a special closet built and locked him there.

Warner Bros.

Too predictable jump scares?

With a budget of $6.5 million, Annabelle grossed $257 million worldwide. However, the feature film was considered disappointing compared to the first Conjuring film and criticized for its lack of originality.

An Internet user regrets, for example, that the film “just happily pumps in numerous references“while another judges them”jump scares“much too predictable to be effective.

Jorik V, member of the AlloCiné Club, writes that if Annabelle had been released “thirty or forty years ago, at the time the film is set“, the feature film would undoubtedly have “was considered a success of the horror genre“.

He adds “But in 2014, and especially after The Conjuring of which the film prides itself on being the descendant, (…) scare people with curtains, slamming doors, a sewing machine that turns on by itself or pop- corn bursting, it’s outrageously ridiculous.”

Warner Bros.

For other spectators, however, the film remains good entertainment. For Freakin Geek, Annabelle is “diabolically effective, and plays with the nerves of the spectators by plunging them into a particularly distressing atmosphere.”

The feature film had two sequels: Annabelle 2: The Creation of Evil released in 2017 and Annabelle – House of Evil released in 2019 and which this time is a sequel to Annabelle and The Conjuring. If you want to know everything about the chronological order of the Conjuringverse, it’s here.

The Nun 2 – whose action takes place in the South of France in 1967 – is currently to be seen in cinemas. In Michael Chaves’ film, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) is called for help by the Church and must go to the Saint Lucia boarding school to face, once again, the demon Valak.