Imagine this: it’s raining and gloomy outside. It’s a perfect day to do absolutely nothing. Inside it’s a nice 67 degrees.

You are laying on a cozy couch in your boyfriend’s living room covered in two blankets, one is a black and maroon tied blanket with a charcoal gray soft blanket covering the one underneath.

You have your remote to your left with a laptop for your notes on your lap, while a table full of different snacks cover the surface.

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You turn on the tv that sits on a dark, wooden stand in front of you and the words “The Conjuring” appear on your screen in yellow. It’s time for a movie marathon.

I couldn’t watch all five movies alone so, of course, I asked my boyfriend Chase to watch them with me.

We started this day full of movies at 11:30 a.m., and we left the movie theater at 11:30 p.m.

The Conjuring

First up is The Conjuring, and let me tell you, it took a while to get interesting.

An hour into the first Conjuring and I already ripped opened my first snack of the day, Keebler’s Fudge Stripes cookies.

All I could think is why I didn’t go to the gym before I started this marathon, I mean I think I ate enough snacks for five people.

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In the first Conjuring, two paranormal investigators (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) look back on a case that deeply disturbed them. In a rural house, the Perron family is terrorized by a demon and the investigators attempt to remove it.

The pop-ups weren’t really scary, but I did get creeped out about some of them. The creepiest part, I would say, is when the demon or the Salem Witchcraft mother went after Judy, the investigator’s daughter. Because you know that it has power outside the home.

By the end of the movie, I was sitting criss-cross applesauce in the corner of the sectional with both blankets draped over me waiting impatiently for The Conjuring 2.

The Conjuring 2

When the second Conjuring started, I tried out the recliner adjacent to the couch, but it didn’t last long. What a terrible chair Chase’s roommate bought. My time in it lasted about five minutes.

The same investigators of the previous story travel to Britain to aid the Hodgson family with another demon. Shocker.

During this movie, I jumped when the demon popped-out at Billy, the main character’s brother, while in his fort at the end of the hallway, that one got me so good.

I loved how original this movie felt. I liked how complex the demons were in this one, where it wasn’t just one demon collecting a person’s soul.

This movie had the complexity I was missing in the first movie. Even beyond the scares, I still wanted to know the backstory of the demons.

The Conjuring 2 has a really good soundtrack. It made me feel fully immersed in their 1970’s British home, with songs like The Clash’s “London Calling” and Bee Gees’ “I Started A Joke.”

I noticed each house in the series has been really big. I don’t know if the family’s houses were this big in the true stories, but it definitely made me feel like the setting was larger then just one home.

Conversely, Chase’s apartment is like a box. It’s super nice for a guys house, but it’s not very homey.

Right after Conjuring 2, Chase asked me if I was hungry, and I jumped out of the couch I was laying on because I thought he was the nun. Don’t laugh.

Annabelle

Now onto Annabelle, this one was a trip.

There was no time for any breaks, besides when I had to hit up Family Video, and Annabelle was sold out. For a movie about a doll that appears everywhere I couldn’t find it anywhere.

So we rented a cheap copy of Annabelle: Creation because I’m too broke to afford Amazon for two movies in a row.

When we came back, we went upstairs to watch Annabelle on Chase’s Xbox 360 through Amazon. Chase cursed Jeff Bezos for the $4 price of the rental.

This old doll haunts a family, and a friend of the mother comes to help. It’s boring.

I almost fell asleep during Annabelle because I didn’t like it as much. After seeing the greatness of The Conjuring 2, Annabelle’s failure to grab my attention was disheartening.

Annabelle: Creation

Now this, this is a movie.

This wife and husband lose their daughter when she’s hit by a car. Then a nun and a group of female orphans come to live with them.

This disabled girl can’t leave the house, so she finds the daughter’s room, finding Annabelle. Great. She’s back.

It was in-depth about the demons, and the story behind it. I loved how the mom of the deceased daughter had a different side of the story to tell.

As this demon occupying Annabelle, praised the young disabled girl, the story finally gave the scare that I was desiring in the first Annabelle.

The movie was so enticing that Chase’s roommate, Joey, had to sit in and watch part of it. I didn’t mind since he was quiet, and he was only there for about 10 minutes.

The movie kept me on the edge of my seat while making me too scared to sit all the way on the back of the couch fearing that someone was behind me.

By the end of the home portion for this marathon, I was drained mentally. It felt good to stand up because that many movies feels like a road trip. I needed to go leave the house. I needed to see The Nun.

The Nun

After we finished Annabelle: Creation, Chase and I took another walk outside, following our long day cooped up inside. It was time to finish off our day-long nightmare with The Nun.

We drove to the Carbondale AMC to find out, after standing in line for 10 minutes, that The Nun was practically sold out. Bummer.

We stood around the theater aimlessly trying to get signal on Chase’s phone to see if any other theaters were still selling tickets to the movie.

We saw Marion still had openings. So, we drove 30 minutes to Marion to watch “The Nun” in theaters. By the time we arrived, it was around 9 p.m.

When we got to there, I paid for my ticket and a drink to share with Chase, while he bought his ticket and popcorn for me to throw later.

We waited for 20 minutes in the theater for the movie to start. We were talking about our predictions and what we hope to see throughout this movie when a group of high schoolers came through.

Now, that’s fine and all until you can’t even hold a conversation with the person beside you because this group of kids are arguing about what row to sit in. They kept going between two rows, deciding which was more centered. They’re just seats, shut up and sit down.

After about ten minutes going back and forth between two rows, one of the girls in the group sits down in a seat and calls it a day. Great.

Moments after this noise disruption, the movie starts with a loud male choir singing some ancient ritual song. Everything is fine until the demonic nun appears behind one of the sisters of the cloistered abbey in Romania.

I don’t want to ruin it for those who still want to see it, which I strongly encourage, because this movie was very good.

I wasn’t too fond of a tonal change compared to the rest of the series. It felt more like a journey similar to “The Lord of the Rings,” when they went into the woods during the daytime and seeing the light cast a shadow through the leaves.

It felt more inconsistent than the previous Conjuring movies due to the increased fighting scenes, making it more of a villain than a demon in this movie. They didn’t miss the mark on being scary and the scenery in which The Nun took place was beautiful.  

Now, this movie scared me the most, maybe because I just watched people get murdered for 10 hours prior to seeing this movie.

I couldn’t even grab the popcorn or drink without freaking out and when I did, I almost spilled the popcorn in the movie theater. Like that guy at the intro video of every AMC showing that throws his popcorn everywhere.

I’ll be surprised if there wasn’t another movie added to the Conjuring series. There will definitely be another one, the hard part is what it’ll be on. I always thought that they’d do one on the monkey toy in the first Conjuring, but for now, who knows.

12 hours later and I finally finish the marathon.

My 12-hour journey came to an end, I walked from the theater to Chase’s car where I mentally ranked the Conjuring movies. Given that most people don’t watch all five movies in one sitting, I think it’s important to give my personal evaluations after this haunting experience.

Ranking System (Emily)

1. The Nun
2. The Conjuring 2
3. Annabelle: Creation
4. The Conjuring
5. Annabelle

Ranking System (Chase)

1. The Conjuring 2
2. Annabelle: Creation
3. The Conjuring
4. The Nun
5. Annabelle

Staff reporter Emily Cooper can be reached at [email protected].

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