A bland and plodding piece of horror Cathsploitation, The Nun pushes down the formulaic tone of The Conjuring franchise to predictable, underwhelming levels.

While in the real world the Catholic Church is undergoing a major PR crisis due to its inept, despicable handling of its sexual abuse scandal, within the world of horror movies the Church is as popular as ever. This is thanks to the now routine release of demonic possession movies, where demonic entities of all matter face off against clergy or Catholic laity in a battle for the souls of the pure. The Conjuring franchise personifies the best and worst that this horror sub-genre has to offer. The Nun, the fifth release in this franchise, firmly belongs in the “worst.”

This is indeed a shame.  The films title character, who first made its appearance (and was indeed the highlight) in The Conjuring 2, is indeed worthy of a spin-off. Yet under the direction of Corin Hardy (The Hallow) and the screenplay stylings of Gary Dauberman (Annabelle), The Nun is as bland as a communion wafer and without any of the spiritual nourishment.

Set in 1952 Romania, the film follows a Catholic priest with a haunted past Father Burke (Damian Bichir), and a novice nun due to take her final vows Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), who are tasked by the Vatican to investigate reports of disturbing activity at a creepy old monastery. In typical Conjuring fashion, what follows is a spook show of jump scares that become predicable in their unpredictability. Where Annabelle: Creation took this tired and true method and made it work, The Nun refuses to do anything creative with its formula of “quiet…quiet…quiet-BOO!”

It is clear Hardy wanted to evoke the imagery of classic Hammer Horror, and he succeeds in doing so with rich photography from Maxime Alexandre (Maniac) and great production design. Yet missing is a true sense of dread and a truly scary payoff. Much like the performances from the usually good Damien Bachir and Taima Farmiga (younger sister of Conjuring star Vera Farmiga), there is a neutering to the horror on show here. Hardy displays none of the daring or emotional power that his debut film The Hallow had. In every way, The Nun feels artificial and bland, the equivalent of a dusty old ghost train ridden a thousand times.

Worst of all is the faux religious spirituality that has become the norm within The Conjuring series. Catholic iconography is indeed a staple within the horror genre, yet with The Nun such Cathsploitation is incredibly void of any such spiritual power. It is indeed rare to find Catholic, let alone Christian, characters shown in a positive light in either film or TV. Perhaps worse is the blasé, lazy, and exploitative approach to religion that The Nun employs.