It’s no secret thatThe Conjuringfranchise is home to some ofthe best scares eversince it possessed audience’s minds back in 2013.The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, took the horror genre back to its supernatural roots and helped shape modern horror. With a simple, classy, but ultimately terrifying horror flick thatspawned a highly successful universe.Think of it as the MCU of horror movies. With that said, this terrifying franchise has since given us some of thebest horror movies of the past decade. It would be easy to rank the best scares of this hit horror franchise; however the majority of them would stem from the originalConjuringand its sequel,The Conjuring 2.With a few scares from that creepy doll, Annabelle. So instead of ranking the best scares, we have instead created a list of the best scares from every movie inThe Conjuringuniverse, to give the list a little more diversity.
Related:Every Movie in The Conjuring Universe, Ranked
8The Wardrobe - The Conjuring (2013)
There are countless scares we could have alternatively chosen, from Annabelle in the rocking chair; Lorraine falling into the basement, and of course the iconic hide-and-clap jump scare. But the wardrobe scare stuck in our minds and gave every audience member nightmares. This scene helpedThe Conjuringshape modern horror.
This scene works so well, because it serves as a misdirection, and catches us completely off guard. Throughout the film this wardrobe is built-up so much, that it almost feels like another character. It’s already creepy looking, which makes us think something spooky is definitely going to happen with it. Similarly, when Carolyn and April play hide-and-clap earlier in the film, a ghostly figure tricks Carolyn into thinking that the ghost is April, and claps from the wardrobe. When she reaches the wardrobe, there is no one there, and April enters the room chanting that she won. But the most sinister and terrifying use of the creepy wardrobe, is when we see the hideous-looking Bathsheba perched on top, and then she pounces on one of the girls.
7The Basement and The Stairwell - Annabelle (2014)
WhileAnnabelleis one of the weaker films in the franchise, there is no denying that there are a handful of great scares. Have you ever been into an old creepy basement all by yourself with very little lighting? Well, it’s safe to say it’s pretty terrifying, and this scene plays with that fear a great way. This basement is already scary enough, but mix in a creepy pushchair, a loud crying baby, and an elevator that won’t close or go up, and behold a hauntingly spooky scene.
However, we are not done with this scene yet, as the elevator finally works and Mia goes back upstairs, which then sends her up a stairwell, but for some bizarre reason, she stops and turns around, seeing a demon crouched at the bottom of the stairs. The camera lingers on this shot for an uncomfortable amount of time, before scaring us with a jump scare of the demon in our face.
6Valek’s Painting - The Conjuring 2 (2016)
There isn’t anything scarier than a pale-faced demon dressed as a towering nun, who likes to play creepy orchestral choir music. Well, this scene has it all, before finally delivering a very inventive scare. The scariest moment of this scene, however, is not when “The Nun” charges at Lorraine, but instead, in the very first shot. Where Lorraine’s daughter is standing in a hallway, staring at something. Before she points and says “who’s that?”, which then cuts to a towering Nun (Bonnie Aarons) at the end of a long hall, which sent shivers down every one’s spine.
The best and most frightening moment of the scene is the use of that creepy painting. As the lights turn out next to the painting, all we see is Valek’s head, and we are not sure whether it’s the painting or whether it is actually Valek. This scene is expertly crafted, and is completely unnerving the whole way through.
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5The Toy Gun/ Bunk Beds - Annabelle Creation (2017)
Annabelle Creationis easily the most underrated in the franchise, from its haunting and tense tone throughout, to many memorable and terrifying jump scares. Each one of the scares in this horror flick is downright terrifying. But there is something so unnerving about the darkness, footsteps, bunk beds, and of course, Annabelle. This scene doesn’t necessarily have a big jump scare moment, but the scenes build-up of tension, lack of silence, and creepy sound design, result in a scene that is sure to give you nightmares.
4Father Burke Trapped in The Coffin - The Nun (2018)
The Nunhas faced its fair share of criticism over, mostly for not feeling like it’s a part ofThe Conjuringfranchise, and also for the lack of creative and terrifying scares. For a movie that promotes itself as the “darkest” movie inThe Conjuringuniverse, it certainly lacks at that aspect; at times the jump scares may come off as cheesy and cheap. However, there is one scare that stands out and will stick in your mind. That being the scene where Father Burke gets trapped in a coffin under grown-over soil. This scene expertly plays with claustrophobia, and if being buried alive in a coffin isn’t bad enough, Burke starts to hear scratches on the outside of his coffin, which leads to hands ripping through the bottom of the coffin and grabbing Burke’s face.
3The Car - The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Another entry intoThe Conjuringuniverse that wasn’t particularly well-received. AlthoughThe Curse of La Lloronawas somewhat of an improvement afterThe Nun,some scares yet again fell a little flat and didn’t pay off to what we wanted. While the imagery of a weeping ghostly woman wearing an old tattered wedding dress is absolutely frightening, the lack of tension and suspense made the scares feel cheap and not all that scary. But this scene, however, certainly deserves a shout-out, for successfully creating a tremendous amount of fear and tension. The haunting cries of the weeping woman are utterly spine-chilling, and seeing the children trapped in the car while the spirit toys with them, trying to wind down the car windows and open the door. The scene ends in satisfying misdirection as the car door opens, to what we expect is the La Llorona, but instead it’s the kid’s mother, Anna (Linda Cardellini).
2The Ferryman’s Tomb - Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Annabelle Comes Homeis a return to form forThe Conjuringfranchise, delivering many frightening scares, but the one that haunted us the most was The Ferryman’s Tomb scene. Witnessing multiple corpses standing upright in their coffins, with coins covering their eyes, is a haunting image and is absolutely unnerving. Add that to the fact, this all happens to be the tomb of the Ferryman’s victims. The Ferryman is one of the minor villains in the film, and is a terrifying dark spirit who takes souls to the afterlife for a price, but instead collects their souls and tortures them. On top of this, at the end of this dark tomb, we are met with Annabelle, but the real shocker, is seeing Mary Ellen’s corpse holding that dastardly doll.
1Arnie Kills Bruno - The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
The third movie in the mainConjuringstoryline doesn’t hit the level of scares that the previous movies achieved. But there are still a few scenes that gave many audience members nightmares, long after viewing. For instance, the scene where Arnie kills Bruno is terrifying, and is definitely the scariest scene in the whole movie. This scene is the first instance of which we witness the extent of Bruno’s possession, as throughout the scene we see him get more and more paranoid and anxious, as he sweats and panics due to the loud music, barking of the dogs, and horrifying visions. The imagery in this scene is easily the scariest aspect, as we see Bruno transform into a seven-foot demon with a truly haunting face, which sticks in your head and won’t leave any time soon. Bruno then starts charging at Arnie like a dog, which is what causes Bruno to finally stab Bruno multiple times and kill him. This sets up the rest of the movie and theinfamous groundbreaking law case, the film is based on.
