Episode 404: THE CONJURING (2013) with Dan Nagan

When Warner Bros. released James Wan’s THE CONJURING, audiences ate up its pared-down setting and classic jump scares to the tune of more than $300 million. As of this episode, it’s the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time. But hey, it’s a horror movie from the 2010s. It can’t actually be THAT good anymore, right?

Dan Nagan comes back to help us pick and poke at what still works here, what definitely doesn’t, and the forgiving hand with which it treats the cute fraudsters at the heart of its story.

Find Dan…

• On Bluesky at @adapperdanman.bsky.social
• On Letterboxd at @aDapperDanMan
• On Trylove episodes about RONIN (1981), FACE/OFF (1997), MANDY (2018), EDGE OF TOMORROW (2013), GOODFELLAS (1994), BARBARIAN (2022), DEMOLITION MAN (1993), HEAVENLY BODIES (1984), THE WICKER MAN (1973), MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
• On Stoop Kidz! A Hey Arnold! Podcast

References:

• “Our Invisible Roommates: What The Conjuring Gets Right and Wrong About Living in A Haunted House” by Wil McMillen for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2026/10/04/our-invisible-roommates-what-the-conjuring-gets-right-and-wrong-about-living-in-a-haunted-house/
• Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets at https://www.trylon.org/
• Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog, at https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/

Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch!

#EvilIncantations #35mm

Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “In the Room Where You Sleep” by Dead Man’s Bones as heard in the THE CONJURING soundtrack.