6 Reasons Why The Conjuring Movies Became So Popular (#1 Is So Important)

Starting with the first film in 2013, The Conjuring universe has grown into one of the most reliable horror brands in modern Hollywood. Even as the quality of later entries has clearly dipped, these movies still keep pulling people back into theaters. The latest film, The Conjuring: Last Rites, just became the 2nd highest-grossing horror movie of all time with a worldwide gross of $494.7 million.

With 10 blockbuster films to date, the franchise is also the highest-grossing horror series ever, with a total box office collection of $2.8 billion worldwide. At a time when many genuinely good horror movies struggle at the box office, The Conjuring keeps winning, and audiences keep showing up. These six reasons explain how the franchise built that trust and how it has maintained long-lasting popularity over the past decade.

6 The Appeal of “Based on a True Story” Branding

The Conjuring movies are built around two of the most famous real-life paranormal investigators of all time, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). By presenting each haunting as something the Warrens actually investigated, the films invite the audience to ask if this really happened. Even if they know the films are dramatized, the thought that this story started in the real world instantly makes the premise much more unsettling.

Real-life paranormal stories connected to the franchise also fuel interest. During the filming of the first Conjuring, there were reports of child actors getting mysterious bruises and heavy curtains moving on their own. Farmiga revealed she started waking up at the witching hour every night after filming began. From The Conjuring 2 onward, priests and exorcists were hired to bless the sets before cameras rolled. In July 2025, paranormal investigator Dan Rivera suddenly died while leading a national tour featuring the real Annabelle doll. All of this blurs the line between fiction and reality and keeps people talking about the franchise.

5 Some of the Most Inventive Scares in the Haunted House Subgenre

With The Conjuring, James Wan perfected the haunted house formula. The films rely heavily on long takes, wide shots, and silence to slowly build tension. The Hide and Clap scene in the first Conjuring remains one of the most flawlessly executed scares in horror history. The sequence builds tension for nearly two full minutes as the blindfolded mother is lured into the dark basement by the sound of claps, and then releases it with a perfectly timed jump scare that still works on repeat viewings.

The films also subvert familiar horror tropes in smart ways. Demonic activity is usually saved for nighttime, yet one of the most chilling moments happens in broad daylight when Lorraine is hanging laundry. A sheet suddenly flies off the line and wraps itself around an invisible entity standing right in front of her for just a second, before flying away to reveal another evil presence inside the house staring back at her. In The Conjuring 2, an underrated scare comes when Mama Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) accuses her children of lying about the haunting, which is a common horror cliché. But here, a dresser flies off and violently slams the door shut right in front of her. Parents are often the emotional safety net in these stories, so seeing something so blatant happen in front of one makes the demonic presence feel much more malignant.

4 Audiences Have Become Attached to the Warrens

One of the biggest problems horror movies often run into is weak characters. If the audience does not care about the people on screen, the scares lose their impact. The first Conjuring avoids this right away by making the Warrens instantly likable and easy to root for. They feel like a real couple who genuinely love each other and make a great professional team. Lorraine usually struggles with the emotional weight of her psychic powers, while Ed plays the role of protector, even when he is clearly outmatched.

Over time, audiences have watched the Warrens grow older. Ed is no longer as physically capable as he once was. In The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, he suffers a major heart attack that leaves him weakened and hospitalized, and that storyline continues into Last Rites as well. We have also seen Judy (Mia Tomlinson) grow up, come to terms with what her parents do for a living, and begin to embrace her own psychic abilities. The films even take time to show smaller, grounded storylines, like Judy bringing her boyfriend home to meet her parents. It’s this sense of real growth and family life that keeps audiences coming back, invested in the characters as much as the scares.

3 An Interconnected Horror Universe

What makes The Conjuring stand out from most horror franchises is that it is not just a series of mainline sequels. Instead, it has grown into a full-blown horror cinematic universe where every movie connects back to the others in some way. The main Conjuring films serve as the foundation, and around them sits an entire web of spin-offs, including the Annabelle trilogy, The Nun movies, and The Curse of La Llorona. These demonic entities are usually introduced briefly as part of a case or a scare, and then later get their own movies that expand their backstory and mythology.

This interconnected approach does wonders for the brand. A random horror movie about a demonic nun might have struggled at the box office, but a nun movie tied to The Conjuring universe became the 6th highest-grossing horror film of all time, despite being the lowest-rated entry in the franchise. The interconnected universe encourages audiences to watch everything, as no one wants to miss a reference or backstory that could be important in the next film.

2 The Hauntings Change Location, Scale, and Stakes With Every Film

Another reason the franchise has stayed so popular is that each new film reinvents the central haunting premise in a new way. The first Conjuring takes place in a rural farmhouse, where the fear comes from isolation and the sense that no help is coming. The Conjuring 2 moves the haunting to a suburban house in Enfield, London, and shows how these cases can happen even in urban neighborhoods. The Devil Made Me Do It is based on the real-life 1981 trial where demonic possession was used as a legal defense for the first time. And Last Rites was framed as the first demon the Warrens ever encountered, and one so terrifying that it made them run away, which raises the personal stakes more than ever before.

The spin-offs also add variety and give the franchise strong rewatch value. Like Stephen King's stories, each entry is a very different type of horror. If you’re in the mood for a high-profile paranormal procedural drama, The Devil Made Me Do It fits that vibe. If you’re looking for gothic horror, The Nun movies lean heavily into that aesthetic. And the Annabelle trilogy explores the creepy killer doll side of the universe. Each film brings something different to the table, which keeps the franchise from feeling repetitive and gives audiences plenty of reasons to revisit different entries depending on what kind of horror they are in the mood for.

1 Mainstream Popcorn Horror That Does Not Alienate Casual Viewers

The biggest reason the Conjuring movies work so well is that they never try to alienate casual viewers. The 2010s saw a major rise in elevated horror, where many horror films became slow-burning metaphors for grief and trauma, with ambiguous endings that leave most people confused unless they sit through an Ending Explained video essay on YouTube afterward. That style works for some people, but it can also feel exhausting or inaccessible to casual viewers.

The Conjuring movies feel like the kind of solid horror films that they just do not make as often anymore. These are popcorn horror movies designed to appeal to as many people as possible. You can turn your brain off and watch a clear-cut battle between good and evil play out with reliable acting, plenty of jump scares, and high production value. These movies understand what viewers expect and never try to be more complicated than they need to be, which makes them a safe choice for horror fans of all kinds.

The entire Conjuring franchise is available to stream on HBO Max.