It looks like Netflix subscribers are in the mood for some thrills and chills right about
now, because two films from one of the scariest movie franchises of all time are currently
tearing it up on the Top 10. The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 are among the most-streamed
movies in the library right now, and given how truly terrifying those movies are, it's
really no wonder audiences are up for revisiting them again and again.
The movies follow real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick
Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively, as they help different families who are beset
by unsettling supernatural entities. Not only are the films filled with bone-chilling locations
and eerie occurrences, but the creepy ghouls that the Warrens have to contend with are
pure nightmare fuel. Here's a deeper look at why The Conjuring films are such standouts
in the horror genre.
James Wan broke out in a big way when he teamed up with his former film school buddy Leigh
Whannell to turn their creative student short into the game-changing 2004 blockbuster called
Saw. That twisty film, and its eventual sequels, made Wan an instant icon in the horror genre,
and he continued to work with Whannell on other chilling thrillers, including Dead Silence
and the Insidious movies.
Wan continued to prove his merit as a master of horror, even without Whannell, with his
work behind the lens of The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2. This time, the scripts were
written by brothers Carey and Chad Hayes, who'd previously given everyone goosebumps
with their screenplays for The Reaping and House of Wax. Unlike other fright flicks this
team had worked on previously, they got to draw from some real-life spooky stories for
the Conjuring movies — and that made the scripts even more unnerving.
In The Conjuring, married ghost-hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren are hired to help the
Perron family from Rhode Island as they grapple with a venomous spirit — one that's looming
over their remote farmhouse and attempting to take possession of the mother's body. Meanwhile,
The Conjuring 2 follows the pair as they investigate the Amityville house murders and the Enfield
poltergeist disturbance involving the Hodgson family in London.
"You are Valak - the defiler, the profane, the marquis of snakes!”
In both films, the stories are based on some of the many terrifying incidents that the
real-life Warrens investigated throughout the '70s. Additionally, the families that
were involved have spoken up about just how creepy their encounters actually were, and
how the films capture the essence of those unforgettably freaky experiences. The stories
would be frightening even if they were 100 percent fiction, but the fact that these incidents
are actually purported to have happened makes them even more skin-crawling to watch.
The Warrens' shudder-inducing work continued for years before and after the cases featured
in the first two Conjuring movies. As such, the series has spawned several spin-offs featuring
some of their most disturbing stories. Annabelle from 2014 brings new life to the doll they
insisted was possessed by a demon.
"I like your dolls."
Then, 2017's Annabelle: Creation takes a step back in time to the heinous story surrounding
the doll's origins, while 2019's Annabelle Comes Home picks up later on, when the toy
has been placed in the Warrens' museum. Meanwhile, 2018's The Nun focuses on the origins of The
Conjuring 2's "Demon Nun" and 2019's The Curse of La Llorona steps away from the Warrens'
personal catalogue of creepers to highlight the story of a famed ghost from Latin American
folklore.
But as plentiful as the franchise has been already, there's still plenty more Conjuring
fun to come. The third installment to the main Conjuring stories, The Conjuring: The
Devil Made Me Do It, will center on the Warrens' experience with the 1981 trial of Arne Johnson,
who was accused of killing his landlord — but may have been demonically possessed at the
time. The movie is currently scheduled to premiere this summer, on June 4. Also on deck
for the franchise is a sequel to The Nun and a spin-off about The Conjuring 2's horrifying
monster, the Crooked Man.
Of course, the success and growth of the Conjuring universe wouldn't be possible without the
first two films being so scary and authentic. Be sure to click play on this gruesome twosome
in Netflix's Top 10.
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