The Nun (2018): Jump Scares and Wasted Potential - REVIEW

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Now that "The Conjuring" franchise has been announce to be officially over, they had to retire the Warren's at some point, decided to watch the entire franchise a movie per day and chronologically have to start with "The Nun (2018)", this thing was kind of a mess if we being real about it, another prequel to The Conjuring universe that just does not deliver the same punch as the original movies do. The whole thing takes place back in 1952 Romania, at this creepy monastery, where a nun kills herself and the Vatican sends Father Burke and Sister Irene to investigate what the hell happened there, sounds good on paper but it kind of falls apart after sometime because honestly this demon aside from scary didnt feel like a threat to anyone's soul. The biggest problem with this movie is that its just one jump scare after another and Im a fan of the franchise so Im big bias and I know many might want more than just cheap scare jumps that you can literally see them coming from a mile away and after the fifth or sixth time someone gets attached by something jumping out from behind them, it gets old real fast. Taissa Farmiga does her best as Sister Irene, and she actually looks so much like Vera Farmiga, from the main Conjuring movies, that it makes perfect sense she was her younger sister but even good casting cannot save boring characters, that you just do not care about at all, like I kept waiting to feel something for these people but it never happened for me. The one bright spot is this dude they call Frenchie, who with the little part he got becomes way more important and not only for his movie in specific but others in the future, for that guy you are going to care about like he is the only character that really commits, made him also way more fun to watch.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5814060/
• Platform: HULU

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The story are Romania sounds cool enough at first, you got Father Burke who was this priest investigator that the Vatican sends out to check on weird supernatural stuff and Sister Irene, whos not even a full nun yet that part felt like a joke to be hones because she was still in training or whatever they call it. They get sent to this abbey in Romania because some nun hung herself and the Vatican is like tf how that going to happen on our watch, we need to figure out what's going on over there so off they go with Frenchie who was this French Canadian guy that found the body and knows the area pretty well. The hole visuals of the place looks amazing, super gothic with all these crosses in the cemetery and fog everywhere it was like the perfect scene for a movie like this, to complement the scenery there is this big creepy castle type building, thats supposed to be the monastery, it really does look like something out of an old classic monster movie. The main problem of the movie is been repetitive because once the scary stuff starts happening its just the same thing over and over, quiet hallway with someone walking around holding a candle then BAM loud noise and the nuns face appears or some demon thing jumps out at them. When the same formula keeps going you start to see the pattern and it stops being scary anymore, the joke is over as it just becomes too predictable, the not scary parts of the movie are way more interesting and what kept me watching.

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Sister Irene had to take the wheel because Father Burke felt like he was useless for the most part because you think he was gonna be this badass exorcist type guy who knows how to handle demons but nope, he just walks into danger constantly and gets his ass kicked every single time. I remember one scene very early where the demon buries him alive in a coffin, six feet under ground and his sorry ass was totally helpless trying to ring a bell to get help, this is suppose because back in the day they put bells on graves that I had no clue about but incase someone got buried by mistake but this actually make kinda sense during old times where plagues happen and science was not as advance as today. Sister Irene hears it somehow even though she was like way across the property, and digs him out pretty easy and after that you would think he would be like we gotta get the F out of here its way too dangerous for us, but no he just keeps investigating and walking around dark rooms by himself like getting buried alive wasnt a big enough warning sign for him. When this kind of ridiculous situations happen on a scary movie it honestly becomes hilarious for me, another ironic reason I had an ok time watching like what are you doing, just get the hell out of there before something worse happens to you and then there were also all these visions he keeps having, of this boy he failed to exorcise years ago, the kid shows up multiple times spitting snakes at him and messing with his head, but it never really goes anywhere interesting. Its just there to give him some backstory I guess but it feels tacked on and not really connected to the main story, about the demon Nun at all, like they could have cut all of that out and the movie would have been exactly the same and that is not so good for character development.

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Sister Irene end up been the main character and hero of this story along with Frenchie since she was the one who ends up defeating the demon at the end, she starts having these visions where she keeps hearing Mary points the way, over and over again. Eventually she figures out it means, there was a key hidden in a statue of Mary that leads to this chamber where the demon is sealed, real groundbreaking detective work there and thats the investigating aspect that kept me watching too. The backstory they give for the demon is actually kind of interesting but they explain it so fast, that it just feels rushed, apparently during World War Two a bomb hit the abbey and opened up this rift that let the demon Valak into the world, the nuns have been praying constantly to keep it sealed away but now its getting stronger and breaking through. The only way to stop it is with the blood of Christ which Father Burke conveniently finds in this old vial, the way they use it at the end is just ridiculous though, Sister Irenes under water getting strangled by Valak and somehow she breaks open the vial and gets the blood in her mouth, while shes being choked, then when Valak pulls her up, she spits it in the demons face and boom its defeated just like that, see you just reading this might laugh because its ridiculous. I was like wait what, how did she do all that without Valak noticing and also why would the demon pull her up out of the water instead of just drowning her right there, it felt really convenient and not thought through at all, like they just needed a way to end the movie quick.

By the end I was just disappointed but also entertained and laugh a couple of time, the demon was scary looking but was not a movie that gives you nightmares, very classic cliche crosses turning upside down and dark figures in hallways and people getting thrown around by invisible forces, all stuff we have seen done way better, if they had only included something or someone very dramatic getting possesed and tormented during the most part of the movie like in the other Conjuring movies. The whole climax feels more like an action movie with everyone running around this flooded chamber, fighting the demon, instead of actual horror, Frenchie even shows up with a shotgun at one point trying to shoot ghosts and I was like wtf but even that felt more natural because its that defense, horror and ignorance at the same time. The very last scene tries to connect it to the first Conjuring movie by revealing that Frenchie is the guy who got possessed that Ed and Lorraine Warren had to exorcise, they show the demon leaving a mark on his neck so you know he was gonna get taken over later, its supposed to be this oh damn moment but it doesnt hit because of how the movie was developed, like they were trying way too hard to throw you this bone at the end to tie everything in the franchise together. The Nun had potential with this awesome looking scenery and the look of Valak, who was very creepy looking, the makeup is great, but good visuals cant carry a whole movie specially when there is nobody to play the over dramatic part as the script and pacing are this weak and repetitive. Maybe a 7 out of 10 for me just because Im bias but I can understand why it got destroyed on the internet, easily the weakest entry in The Conjuring series.

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