Editorials
How ‘The Conjuring’ Universe Defined a Decade of Horror
*Keep up with our ongoing end of the decade coverage here*
Every decade has a certain set of horror movies that define it. That certain group of movies that hits the right tone, captures audiences perfectly and is the first thing that you think of when that particular time period comes up. For the 70s, it was those movies that pushed the envelope and broke new ground in an uncertain era – The Exorcist. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. For the 80s, it was the slasher cycle. Hundreds of slasher films came and went over a few short years, but the big franchises stand out in front for the way they created characters that would last and become the new faces of horror – Halloween, Friday the 13th and the Nightmare on Elm Street films. In the 90s, we saw a return to masked killers that also incorporated a witty writing style and casts of chic young actors. The Scream franchise led the way. In the 2000s, we saw a rise in ultra-violent films like the Saw series and the Hostel films.
As we wrap up the 2010s, it’s interesting to look back and see how horror has changed and what was really popular during this period. Of all the movies that were released this decade, the ones that will most define this period will be the films of The Conjuring Universe.
What began in 2013 with a single ghost story has ballooned to be one of the most successful horror franchises of all time. In keeping with the current trend of cinematic universes (which will also mark this decade), the series has developed beyond simply a series of sequels and has created its own web of stories that has spanned six years and seven films, and continues to grow.
The Conjuring (2013)
The road to bringing The Conjuring to the screen was a long one, beginning about 20 years prior, when producer Tony DeRosa-Grund met with Ed Warren to discuss the case of the Perron Family – the story that the script would come to be based on. DeRosa-Grund tried to get the film made for years, but it never quite materialized. Deals were formed with Golden Circle Films (who had made A Haunting in Connecticut, based on another of the Warrens’ cases) and Summit Entertainment, but nothing ever made it to the finish line. Finally, a deal was struck with New Line, James Wan was brought on board to direct and produce the script from Chad and Carey Hayes, and the story finally made it to the screen.
Set in the 1970s, the story followed the Perron family as they move into a farmhouse in rural Rhode Island, only to discover that the property has a dark history, as a malevolent entity begins to threaten their family. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga were cast in the roles of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and offer up a duo that is not only defined by their ghost hunting, but by their chemistry and relationship to one another. Their kindness is front and center throughout the film and gives the characters depth in a way that is not commonly explored in films like this.
The Conjuring won over audiences and critics alike, opening the door for New Line to not only make sequels, but to expand the story out in multiple directions simultaneously.
Annabelle (2014)
From there, as they were developing a sequel to The Conjuring, New Line also decided to create a spin-off film based on the Annabelle Doll that made a brief appearance at the beginning of the first film. Since the most famous story of the doll was already told during that scene, screenwriter Gary Dauberman chose to create an origin story for the doll, in which she starts out as an antique in a child’s bedroom, but becomes possessed by a malevolent spirit after a cult member breaks into the house and dies by suicide in the room where Annabelle is kept. The homeowners, John and Mia, find themselves plagued by the entity and eventually learn that it intends to take a human soul.
The film did well financially, but was a big disappointment for fans of The Conjuring, as it lacked both the pacing and the effectiveness of the first story.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
2016 saw the return of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the Warrens in The Conjuring 2. James Wan returned to the director’s chair, and also co-wrote the script, along with Chad Hayes, Carey Hayes and David Leslie Johnson. This film briefly touches on the Warrens’ investigation into the Amityville haunting, before traveling to England to investigate the Enfield Poltergeist. They are sent there by the Catholic Church to determine if the stories being told by a working class family concerning a haunting in their home are true, or if they are instead an elaborate hoax.
In reality, Ed and Lorraine did determine this particular incident to be a hoax, but in the film, the family is ensnared by the power of a demonic spirit that not only manipulates the ghost of the former owner of the home, but also appears as a monstrous nun. This new adversary, while defeated in The Conjuring 2, would be the next focal point of the cinematic universe, as it was a successful villain that terrified audiences.
The film was massively successful and also introduced the world to the joys that can be found in watching Patrick Wilson sing and play guitar.
Annabelle Creation (2017)
The following year, a prequel was made to the less than stellar Annabelle film. Annabelle Creation takes place in 1955 as a middle-aged couple, Esther (Mirando Otto) and Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) open their home to a nun (Stephanie Sigman) and a group of girls after their orphanage closes down. Janice (Talitha Bateman), a girl who has been disabled by the effects of polio, finds a doll that had belonged to the couple’s deceased daughter, Annabelle. When Janice begins behaving strangely, Esther confesses that the couple had been so distraught when their daughter died that they agreed to allow what they thought to be her spirit to inhabit the doll. As it turns out, the spirit in question was a demonic entity playing on their grief.
Gary Dauberman returned to write the script, and David F. Sandberg came aboard to direct. The film was a critical and box office success and was a huge step forward from the previous Annabelle entry. It told a new story while still tying itself back to everything that had already been established in the mythology.
The Nun (2018)
In 2018, the terrifying demon nun, Valak, got her moment in the spotlight. The Nun was written by Gary Dauberman and directed by Corin Hardy. It is set in 1953 and tells the story of Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a novice nun and Father Burke (Demien Bichir) who are called to a Romanian monastery to investigate the mysterious circumstances following the suicide of a nun on the property. Upon their arrival, they learn that a demonic entity that has been imprisoned within the walls of the abbey has been released. The nuns pray in shifts to attempt to keep the evil at bay, but are quickly losing ground. This evil, known as Valak, takes the form of a nun and must be once again sealed in her prison before it can escape the grounds and bring corruption wherever it goes.
The Nun was met with mixed reviews. Though it had a classic horror setting and atmosphere, the editing was shaky and the film didn’t flow like its predecessors.
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Based on a Latin American folktale, The Curse of La Llorona follows Anna (Linda Cardellini), a social worker sent to investigate the disappearance of two young boys. When she arrives at their house, she finds the children locked in a room. She calls the police, and has their mother, Patricia (Patricia Alvarez), arrested. Patricia claimed to be locking the boys away for their own protection. The boys later turn up dead, and Anna’s own children begin experiencing strange happenings around their home. It seems Anna’s involvement in the case has brought her under the curse of the dreaded spirit La Llorona. Realizing that the spirit is powerful, she turns to the Church for help in banishing the entity.
The Curse of La Llorona’s place in The Conjuring Universe is not as obvious as the other films, and was only really known when the film was released. The La Llorona spirit was never a part of any of the prior films and the movie wasn’t marketed as a Conjuring film or as having any relation to the franchise. The connection itself is small, and lies in the appearance of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), the priest who counseled the couple in Annabelle.
The film received poor reviews, many of which cited the overuse of jump scares and the lack of a well-formed storyline.
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
The second series entry for 2019 was the third film to focus on the Annabelle doll. Annabelle Comes Home sees Gary Dauberman returning once again, but this time, taking over the director’s chair and directing from his own script. The film brings the Annabelle story back to the Warrens. It takes place after they have acquired the doll and locked her away in their artifacts room. Ed and Lorraine take an overnight trip for an investigation and ask Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) to babysit their daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace). Mary Ellen’s friend, Daniela (Katie Sarife) tags along and beings to explore the items in the artifacts room. Of course, she lets a bunch of supernatural creatures loose and the girls have to contain the disaster before Ed and Lorraine return home.
The film is a bit of a departure in tone from the rest of the series. It certainly has some scary moments, but it is all done with a sense of fun. This film is a scary sleepover that invites the audience along for the festivities. While Annabelle is definitely our main antagonist, she’s not the only thing the character have to contend with. A werewolf, a spectral ferryman and an evil bride all make appearances, adding to the supernatural chaos of the story and potentially offering up new villains for future installments.
The decade might be winding down, but The Conjuring Universe certainly isn’t. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are set to return to the series in 2020 with The Conjuring 3, a sequel to The Nun has been announced, and a film focusing on The Crooked Man from The Conjuring 2 is also in the works. As long as audiences continue to have an interest in supernatural horror, these films will continue to lead the pack and the universe will continue to expand to include more stories, more supernatural villains, and more scares.
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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