2. The Conjuring Universe
Supernatural horror isn’t for everyone, we know that. But when it comes to deliver spiritual and otherworldly scares, there are no franchises that do it as comprehensively as the Conjuring Universe. Spanning multiple movies following the real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as well as several spin-offs, the Conjuring movies have something to scare just about everyone. Evil nuns, cursed dolls, and angry spirits – The Conjuring is practically guaranteed to give you the willies.
Even for those who don’t find the paranormal inherently scary, the Conjuring movies have plenty of frights. They make expert use of the classic jump scare, with dark, atmospheric tension built throughout each and every title in the franchise. In other words, it’s not just scary in a conceptual sense.
Like many others, its movies are of varying quality, but there is a general consensus that they’re all pretty terrifying. This has earned the Conjuring Universe a reputation as one of the scariest franchises in modern horror, as well as packing a good deal of mass appeal to boot. There’s no doubt that the Conjuring franchise makes use of the modern shared universe framework to excellent effect, which – combined with its many scares – makes it one of the best horror movie franchises of all time.