The Conjuring: Last Rites, the final chapter in James Wan’s billion-dollar horror franchise, arrives in theatres this Friday. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren for one last battle with evil forces. If you want to walk into the theatres well-versed in The Conjuring Universe, here are eight films that you must stream.
The Conjuring (2013)
The Perron family move into a farmhouse in Rhode Island, only to discover that an evil force lurks within its walls. Doors slam, clocks stop, children are terrorised in the dead of night. Enter Ed and Lorraine Warren, who realise the house is cursed by the spirit of a witch. Also featuring the Anabelle doll briefly, this film is the perfect introduction to The Conjuring universe.
Streaming on: Netflix
Annabelle (2014)
In 1970s Santa Monica, medical student John Form gifts his pregnant wife Mia a vintage porcelain doll for their baby’s nursery. But their joy turns to terror after a violent home invasion involving a cult leaves the doll tainted with blood. Soon, paranormal activities start haunting Mia, even after the family relocates to Pasadena. With their infant daughter Leah at risk, Mia learns from a priest that the doll is a conduit for a demonic force seeking a soul.
Streaming on: JioHotstar
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The Warrens are called to Enfield, London, where a single mother and her four children are terrorised by a poltergeist. Chairs fly, crosses twist on walls, and a young girl becomes the carrier for an old man’s ghost. Upon investigation, Lorraine senses a far darker presence: Valak, the demon nun who would go on to terrify audiences in her own spin-offs in The Nun.
Streaming on: Netflix
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
This prequel takes us back to the 1940s to chronicle the circumstances under which the Annabelle doll became cursed. A grieving dollmaker and his wife invite orphaned girls into their home, only for one of them to stumble upon a locked room housing the doll, thus unleashing evil forces.
Streaming on: Netflix
The Nun (2018)
Set in a Romanian abbey in the 1950s, The Nun revolves around a young nun Sister Irene and a priest, Father Burke, who are sent by the Vatican to investigate the mysterious death of a novice. As they did deeper into the case, they discover long buried secret and have to deal with an ancient evil buried within the walls: Valak.
Streaming on: JioHotstar
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Set inside the Warrens’ own home, this instalment of Annabelle turns their artifact room into a room of horrors. While the couple step out for a case, their young daughter Judy and two babysitters are left alone in the house. When Annabelle is accidentally released from the artifact room, she awakens the other cursed objects, resulting in a night of trauma for the kids.
Streaming on: JioHotstar
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
A young man who is arrested for a stabbing incident in 1981 Connecticut, claims he was possessed by a demon. Ed and Lorraine dive into the case, retracing a trail of curses, occult rituals and a totem that have ties to a supernatural entity. Unlike the haunted houses of the first two films, this one plays out like a supernatural detective story with a courtroom angle. It’s slower, moodier and a direct predecessor to Last Rites.
Streaming on: Prime Video
The Nun II (2023)
Set four years after the events of The Nun, this sequel takes Sister Irene to France where the death of a priest brings her face to face with the malevolent entity of Valak once again. Teaming up with young novice Sister Debra, Irene follows cryptic clues tied to Saint Lucy’s relics to confront the demon’s growing power before it consumes those she cares about.
Streaming on: Prime Video