The Nun review round-up: Conjuring prequel is 'an unholy mess' of 'jump scares and supernatural hokum'

After starring in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, Taissa Farmiga returns to the horror genre with The Nun , a prequel to the Conjuring franchise. Directed by Corin Hardy , Farmiga plays Sister Irene who is sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania with Father Burke (Demian Bichir). Bonnie Aarons has reprised her role as Valak while the Game of Thrones actress Charlotte Hope stars as the Romanian abbey’s Sister Victoria. [caption id=“attachment_5071711” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Poster of The Nun. Image from Facebook[/caption] The Nun will release in cinemas on 7 September.  Rotten Tomatoes has given the horror flick 48% average rating. Most of the reviews are of the view that the film only employs the tried and tested tactics of the horror genre. Variety writes, “Employing just about every trick from the Hammer Horror playbook without wasting time trying to make any sense, it provides a serviceable 96 minutes of standard-issue jump scares and supernatural hokum, keeping the franchise fresh in moviegoers’ minds.” “Much like the other Conjuring films, The Nun packs plenty of jump scares, many obvious and yet still jarring, as the trio are stalked across the Abbey by the demonic Valek,” according to  IndieWire. The Rolling Stones calls the film an “unholy mess” and says “true horror requires anticipation to work properly, but it’s hard to anticipate anything when everything’s already being thrown at us. The dread dissipates. Our screams become nothing but weary sighs.” Entertainment Weekly says “nothing stands out as uniquely memorable or iconic” in the film but “The Nun comes closest to its ideal form of go-to midnight-movie, the fun younger cousin of the Conjuring movies with less build-up but more of the money shots you’ll come to a theater to see.”