When The Conjuring was released in 2013, it kick-started a popular new horror franchise and was a big hit. The movie is still beloved by fans of the genre today, earning an 83% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing over $300 million worldwide. And critics enjoyed it too, with The Conjuring sitting at 86% on the Tomatometer.
The Conjuring franchise has eight films so far. While they aren't all great, horror fans enjoy visiting the world of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and the incredibly eerie doll Annabelle. The ending of The Conjuring sets up the rest of the horror franchise and proves that the Warrens are intelligent experts in the world of demons, evil spirits, and haunted houses.
What Is The Conjuring Series About?
While not all of The Conjuring movies are equally great, the horror franchise remains one of the most popular. Each movie follows paranormal investigators named Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) as they try to rid homes of evil spirits. Each movie focuses on a different time period.
The Conjuring franchise is made up of several films about the Warrens but also includes some spin-offs that focus on Annabelle, the evil doll with real-life inspiration. Annabelle has become one of the most recognizable figures in the horror genre and for good reason. Her rosy cheeks and eerie look in her eyes, along with her incredible powers, make her a real force to be reckoned with.
In The Conjuring, the Warrens try to help Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) as she realizes that she lives in a haunted house. This movie is also important and memorable because it introduces Annabelle. The Conjuring 2 was released in 2016 and tells a similar story to the first one. Some horror sequels are better than the original and that might not be true of The Conjuring 2. But fans of the original movie enjoy the chance to revisit the same creepy supernatural world.
In Annabelle, which was released in 2014, John (Ward Horton) and Mia (Annabelle Wallis) are starting their family when the evil doll begins affecting them. There are two more Annabelle movies: Annabelle: Creation which was released in 2017 and focuses on young orphans in a home and Annabelle Come Home which was released in 2019 and is about the Warrens's daughter Judy (McKenna Grace).
The fifth movie in The Conjuring universe, The Nun, was released in 2018 and serves as a prequel to The Conjuring 2, telling the story of Saint Cartha's monastery in the 1950s. This isn't considered the best film in the franchise but does offer some background that fans might find interesting.
The Curse of La Llorona came out in 2019 and has the least in common with the other movies in The Conjuring franchise. It's about La Llorona/The Weeping Woman and is pretty forgettable.
Finally, the most recent movie in The Conjuring franchise is The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which was released in 2021. Once again, it focuses on the Warrens. While some horror franchises have deep lore, the events of The Conjuring franchise are much easier to keep track of.
How Does The First Conjuring Movie End?
In The Conjuring ending, the evil demon Bathsheba hurts Judy Warren (Sterling Jerins). The Warrens understand exactly what's going on and spring into action. Lorraine says that Bathsheba will murder the Perron's daughter Carolyn unless they keep her inside. Ed tries to rid Carolyn of the demon and Lorraine helps him out.
When Ed sends Bathsheba to hell where he belongs, audiences learn that Ed and Lorraine keep objects from the families that they work with and they leave them in a room in their home. Ed takes the Perron family's creepy music box. The movie's final image is the music box playing.
The Conjuring ending is smart and leads into the sequel. It's clear that the Warrens, who are based on the real-life couple, will never stop hearing from families who want them to look into their haunted houses. While the character development in The Conjuring franchise isn't as strong as in other horror movies, Ed and Lorraine do function as effective and powerful main characters. They care about their daughter, each other, and trying to help people, and that makes them compelling to follow along with.
The Conjuring has many terrifying villains and the ending of The Conjuring is definitely chilling. It proves that even though the Warrens do their best to get rid of demons and spirits, they can't control everything. And sometimes, there is still evil lurking somewhere.
According to Bloody Disgusting, the next movie in The Conjuring franchise will be called The Conjuring: Last Rites. It will be cool to see where the franchise brings the Warrens next.