As far as the Blumhouse Productions
Conjuring series is concerned, the five movies that make up this franchise have been like money in the bank.
A surprise hit in 2013, The Conjuring focused on real-life paranormal detectives Ed and Lorraine Warren dealing with a particularly nasty haunting. On a modest $20 million budget, it brought in more than $300 million at the global box office, meaning more adventures of the Warrens were obviously going to make it to the big screen. Fortunately, they had a long history of investigating things that go bump in the dark, some of them simply begging for their own feature.
Annabelle, the creepiest doll in the history of dolldom, was the central point of two movies while the worst thing to ever wear a habit, The Nun, is the current Conjuring entry in theaters, a certified hit right out of the gate, clearing more than $131 million internationally during its first three days of release.
The good thing about this franchise is that instead of making quick knock-off sequels, the producers have delivered wellmade and intelligent movies that successfully mine and expand on the series’ mythology. Unfortunately, that’s not the case where The Nun is concerned, a muddled movie both narratively and visually that concentrates on atmosphere over coherency. Frustrating and tedious, this winds up being a wasted opportunity for a character rich in potential.
Taking place in the early 1950s, the film opens with a gruesome suicide of a nun outside a massive abbey in Romania. Father Burke (Demian Bichir), a priest with (I think) experience where demon hunting is concerned and a young woman, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), are deputed by the Vatican to go investigate. Upon arriving in the dark, dank country these two look up Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), a delivery man who had the unfortunate luck of finding the deceased nun, who happened to just be hanging around getting her eyes plucked out by crows.
He warns Burke and Irene that the abbey is rumored to be haunted and they get proof of that soon enough. They see various nuns that turn out to be ghosts and learn that they used to be the inhabitants of this cloister, sent to pray over a gateway to hell that has been opened. Their vigilance has held the demons, who’d like to cross over, at bay for years, but one more powerful than ever before is knocking at the gate and won’t be denied.
This exposition is doled out at an agonizingly slow pace and a degree of tedium starts to set in as we’re left with nothing to do but drink in the atmosphere which, arresting as it is, is no substitute for an interesting story told compellingly. Very little in the way of background is provided for Burke, which, rather than renders him a man of mystery, makes him a cypher. And while there is an interesting development or two where Irene is concerned, overall the character is given short shrift. To be sure, she proves resourceful in the end, but there’s a gulf between her and the audience that’s never bridged.
And while Corin Hardy succeeds in delivering a rousing climax and two or three very effective jump scares, watching this movie is like looking at something through dirty dishwater. Yes, I understand that the location has no electric lights, but there’s a way of lighting a scene for clarity while maintaining an oppressive mood.
In the end, The Nun is far more frustrating than frightening, an exercise in “what might have been” rather than horror, and is the first Conjuring film in which I felt duped and taken advantage of. With the success of this feature, I’m sure a sequel will be made that will hopefully fill in the gaps left here and perhaps employ a talented cinematographer.
Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected].
