Common Knowledge: It's widely believed that The Curse of La Llorona is the sixth entry in the series, largely because one of its launch marketing campaigns presented it that way, but this was a mistake. The director, as well as Warner Bros., who own the Conjuring franchise, have stated that it isn't part of the franchise and the connections are merely Easter Eggs.
ValakAppearances The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, The Nun II is a shapeshifting demonic entity that revels in the murder and corruption of mankind. Once an angel before rebelling against God, Valak formed a unique fixation on Saint Lucy, playing a role in her mutilation and murder before committing itself to the eradication of her bloodline. After being freed by a Satanic duke, Valak proceeds to haunt and eventually massacre the nuns of the Abby of St. Carta, all while taking the guise of a blasphemous nun to mock their faith. Possessing a farmer named Maurice, Valak begins a killing spree of clergy across Europe, purging St. Lucy's lineage before taking its evil to a boarding school, where it murders a teen girl and the school's headmistress out of petty cruelty. After failing to slaughter the students and burn St. Lucy's decedent Irene Palmer alive, Valak is sealed away inside Maurice, but manifests years later and attempts to force him to kill his wife. Desiring revenge after being exorcised by Ed and Lorraine Warren, Valak mentally assaults Lorraine with visions of Ed's death. Later possessing Ronald DeFeo Jr. to committing the mass murder of his family at the Amityville house, Valak then moves on to haunt the Hodgson family, taking control of the innocent spirit of Bill Wilkins to have him terrorize the family and prevent him from moving on into the afterlife. After trying numerous times to kill various members of the Hodgson family, Valak tries to force the youngest girl, Janet, to impale herself in front of her entire family, then tries to force Lorraine to watch as it attempts the same on her husband.
Annabelle films: Malthus is a ram-like demon worshiped by the perverse Disciples of the Ram. Desiring a soul, Malthus masquerades as the daughter of the grieving Samuel and Esther Mullins until the ruse was discovered, ending with Malthus gouging out Esther's left eye. Being forced to inhabit Annabelle, Malthus sets its sights on the polio-stricken Janice, and possesses her before gruesomely murdering the Mullins by slicing Esther in half and crucifying her upper body, and contorting Samuel's fingers until they broke in a crude fashion. Compelling Janice into killing her adoptive parents, Malthus threatens to steal the soul of Mia Form's baby daughter unless she forfeits her own. After failing to kill the Warrens in a vehicular accident, Malthus is released by Daniela Rios, and it sends several spirits to kill the girls in order to prevent them from re-locking the Annabelle doll back in her case. When the girls started to get the upper hand, Malthus grabs Judy Warren and nearly tears her soul out of her body.
Critic-Proof: Annabelle and The Nun have a mixed-to-negative critical reception, but they ended up pretty sizeable box office successes nonetheless. According to Forbes journalist Scott Mendelson:
"Even with a "C" Cinemascore grade and (accurately) lousy reviews, this is a huge win and more proof that franchises like this are critic-proof so long as even the bad reviews reassure viewers that they'll get what they want from a given entry. The Corin Hardy-directed and Gary Dauberman-penned The Nun still has the gothic atmosphere, R-rated violence that doesn't fall into grindhouse territory, religious horror tropes, a presumption of religious dogma being wholly truthful and jump scares."
Just Here for Godzilla: Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have such adorable, convincing chemistry as Ed and Lorraine Warren that a number of fans who usually avoid horror films at all costs have admitted to watching just for their love story. Let's just say you don't usually find a plethora of shipping fanvids on YouTube devoted to the main characters of a horror franchise.
