Michael Chaves Sucks Jun 2026

The core issue? Chaves directs at the audience, not with them. Wan builds dread through camera movement, silence, and frame composition. Chaves builds it through volume spikes and digital ghouls lunging at the lens. It's the difference between a haunted house and a haunted spreadsheet.

With three entries in the Conjuring universe and a résumé of recycled jump scares, director Michael Chaves has become a symbol of franchise horror at its most uninspired. michael chaves sucks

It’s not just that his movies are "bad"—it’s that they are boring . They look like expensive CW episodes. The CGI is often noticeable in a way that breaks immersion, and the scares rely too heavily on volume rather than vision. The core issue

If James Wan is horror's architect, Michael Chaves is the guy who shows up late with a hammer and no blueprint. And the cracks are showing. Chaves builds it through volume spikes and digital

The Devil Made Me Do It wasn't just a bad sequel—it was a betrayal. Wan's films breathed with patience, spatial awareness, and character. Chaves' version? A frantic, effects-driven courtroom-horror hybrid where the Warrens feel like guest stars in their own mythology. The iconic "clap" was replaced by CGI shadow monsters and a plot that made Annabelle Comes Home look like The Exorcist .

Take The Curse of La Llorona , for example. It is widely considered the worst film in the Conjuring universe. It was flat, repetitive, and devoid of the emotional weight that usually grounds the supernatural elements in these films. Then, he was given the keys to the castle with The Conjuring 3 , and the result was a messy, courtroom-drama-hybrid that lost the intimacy and terror of the Warrens' previous investigations.

Chaves' The Curse of La Llorona (yes, he directed that) is the cinematic equivalent of a wet match. Flat performances, nonsensical lore, and jump scares so predictable you could set your watch by them. It's the kind of film that makes you miss when PG-13 horror at least tried to be clever ( The Ring , Lights Out ).