James Wan’s The Conjuring franchise has spawned a few spinoffs, including the not-too-scary (but still financially successful) Annabelle films (about the possessed doll who wreaks havoc while sitting there, doing nothing). Now, the teaser trailer for The Nun — billed as “the darkest chapter in The Conjuring universe” — has arrived, and director Corin Hardy shall guide viewers through the origin story of Valek, the demon nun. The character first surfaced in The Conjuring 2 as an unsettling painting by Ed Warren (played by Patrick Wilson) that apparently came to life and started drifting through hallways.
The trailer itself looks genuinely frightening — both due to atmosphere and an effective jump scare near the end — although to be fair, Valek’s appearance can terrify on its own. Bonnie Aarons reprises the Valek role, and a young nun (Taissa Farmiga, sister to Vera, who played Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring movies), who has had visions of Valek, travels to an abbey with a haunted past and an unholy secret to be uncovered. And once that happens, the abbey will become ground zero for a war between the living and the damned.
Given that this is a prequel, and we already know that Valek goes forth to stalk through a future installment in Wan’s universe, it’s safe to say who may win that war. On Tuesday, the first poster for The Nun dropped as well. Yikes.
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The Nun arrives in theaters on September 7.