This horror movie arrived with very strong anticipatory hype. Valak was one of those horror characters that made a lasting impact on its audience with her gaunt witch-like face framed by a nun's habit. We first met the creepy nun in "The Conjuring 2" (2016). Then in "Annabelle: Creation" (2017), her origin was the subject of a suspenseful post-credits scene. Now that little teaser is now this feature-length film at hand.

It was 1952 in an old cloistered convent in Romania. One night, an evil entity forced Sister Victoria to jump out of the balcony to hang herself. The Vatican then sent Fr. Burke to investigate the mysterious circumstances of her death. A young postulant, Sr. Irene was assigned to accompany the priest because she was supposedly familiar with the terrain.

When they arrived in Romania, Frenchie, the gregarious man who found the sister's hanging corpse, brought them to the rundown convent, whose nuns were not exactly very welcoming. The place was obviously being haunted by a strong diabolical presence which harassed Fr. Burke and Sr. Irene from the very first night they spent there.

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This film (directed by Corin Hardy) was so dark. I don't know if the darkness had been compounded by the dimness of the projection system in the theater I watched in, but there are scenes when I do not see anything at all. I know that darkness was supposed to be scary, but if it is too dark to see anything much, you are just relying on the loud eerie music, demonic growling and those sinister sound effects for the jump scares care of shadowy figures I see onscreen.

The actors were quite engaging to watch. Demian Bichir (once up for a Best Actor Oscar in 2012) played the no-nonsense Fr. Burke. His scariest scene about being buried alive had already been spoiled in the trailers. Taissa Farmiga (youngest sister of "Conjuring" star Vera Farmiga) played the visionary and incredibly brave Sr. Irene. No horror film is complete without a character who could fearlessly face terror as boldly as she did. Jonas Bloquet was mainly comic relief as funny and friendly Frenchie (a.k.a. Maurice).

Compared to the other films in the "Conjuring Universe," this had the least audience impact in terms of screams that I encountered while watching these films in a cinema. I actually heard more laughs at Frenchie's jokes than screams to horror scenes. This was despite the fact that there were quite a number of female college students in the screening I caught. With all the big hype comes big disappointment when it fails to deliver, like this one. 5/10

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."