The Conjuring Cinematic Universe

Anybody into the Conjuring Cinematic Universe? This has quietly been one of the more successful cinematic universes. Personally I think it's a mixed bag.

The Conjuring 1 and 2 are some of my favorite horror films of all time! They are character driven, scary horror movies that don't mind taking their time to build up the characters and tension before the real scares start. All that and they have a powerful Christian message to boot! This is my kind of horror!

Annabelle was the first spinoff and it is immediately apparent that James Wan is no longer directing. I no longer found Annabelle scary and for the most part the movie is kind of a drag. I do remember thinking that this one still had a good Christian message in it though, so that's cool.

Annabelle: Creation ditches the Christian themes and ends up being an enjoyable, but not exceptional horror flick.

The Nun, much like Annabelle: Creation, is an enjoyable horror film, but is nowhere near the level of the Conjuring movies. Despite the fact that they are directly dealing with a demon that took the form of a Nun to mess with Lorraine Warren's faith, this movie does not have Christian themes or much to think about at all as far as I can remember. In my opinion this character didn't need a spinoff film.

The Curse of La Llorona feels like it was put in the Conjuring Universe as an afterthought. It barley has anything to do with the Conjuring movies and it doesn't follow the same supernatural rules either. Also I just found it very generic and boring. A lot of missed potential in my opinion.

In the future we are getting Annabelle Comes Home which looks decent enough from the trailer. I'll definitely be checking it out.
They are working on The Nun 2. I can't say I'm excited, but I enjoyed the first one enough to give this one a look.
The Crooked Man is getting a spinoff and he's who should have gotten a movie instead of The Nun IMO. He is the more interesting character from The Conjuring 2 and I feel like there's more story to tell with him as opposed to the Nun.
And of course The Conjuring 3 is coming and I wish I was excited, but the fact that the guy who directed The Curse of La Llorona is directing this gives me little hope.

What do you guys/gals think of The Conjuring Cinematic Universe?

I'll admit I haven't heard of these movies, but the idea of a mainstream horror movie with a Christian message is intriguing to me.

How did you find out these movies were connected? I can't remember if I've seen any of the Conjuring movies, so maybe it would be obvious to me if I had.

Paeter wrote:How did you find out these movies were connected?

It is pretty apparent if you watch the movies. The Annabelle doll first showed up in The Conjuring and then spun-off into it's own trilogy. The Nun was in The Conjuring 2 before getting a solo "origin story" movie. I'm guessing The Curse of La Llorona was added to the universe after they already made the film, because the only connection to the rest of the movies is one quick cut away scene with a character from Annabelle.