What makes a great horror movie? The subtlety and finesse in crafting tension and horror without revealing much; the gradual buildup of horror through the unknown; having the audience know that something is out there and not revealing it immediately. The Nun does the exact opposite of all of this.

I was invited to an early premiere of The Nun yesterday and although I didn't have high expectations, I was still disappointed.I watched all the Conjuring and Annabelle spin-offs thanks to my wife's obsession with horror flicks, but for the most part I enjoyed most off them.

Considering the success of the first Conjuring, I always hoped that the next sequel/prequel builds on the strengths of the first, where tension and horror is built slowly and gradually, culminating in tense and horrific scenes and a climatic finish. Unfortunately with each new installment, I found that the same narrative and scare tropes are implemented, making the movie more predictable and mundane.

Unfortunately The Nun takes this to a whole new comical level. How can such a IP go so wrong?! Creepy demon nun? Check! Old isolated abandoned castle? Check! Pseudo-religious lore to build on? Check! Romania? Check! - The producers and director had all the ingredients to create a great horror flick. They ended up making a movie more tailored to a young adult/teenage fan-base, relying on cliche story-line, extremely dumb protagonists and never ending predictable jump scares. Don't get me wrong, I like a good ol' jump scare when used right, but this movie almost solely relies on them.

But the worst part of the movie, and where I think it got it so wrong, is how it reveals everything way too much and way too early. Not only do you see the nun in the first 5 minutes and constantly jumping out every 10 minutes, you hear her screaming, attacking victims etc. repeatedly throughout the movie. By the time the third act takes place you already have seen all the scares on offer and it becomes comical. The entire theater was literally laughing throughout the final act.

Overall it is a disappointing movie. There is not point in telling people not to waste their time watching it, as the movie will piggy-back on the success of it's predecessors and make a ton of money.

and PS; what is the deal with all the demons growling and screaming like hungry hyenas?

OK but ultimately run-of-the-mill horror. The budget theater I saw this flick in was filled with noisy teenagers yacking and reacting throughout, which would have been a lot worse if I really thought I was missing much.

There are a couple of other annoyances that seem to have gone over other people's heads here. For one, although the movie makes much of this being in Romania, and indeed it was filmed there, hardly anyone seems to actually be Romanian. What's really a bothersome anomaly, though, is that the convent and the people involved are Roman Catholic. Certainly there is Roman Catholicism in Romania, but generally only amongst ethnic minorities, especially Hungarians. Actual ethnic Romanians with any religious affiliation, however, almost always identify as Romanian Orthodox, and that is a very important distinction that any Romanian will immediately notice. People elsewhere may think that's no big deal, but just imagine you have a movie set in Italy and every one there is an Episcopalian. Don't you think those in the know would find that ridiculous?