Is 'The Nun,' the New Horror Movie, Based on a True Story? Meet the 'Real' Demon Valak

Some parts of The Nun, a new horror movie to come from the creators of The Conjuring, were based on a true story. The idea was created from an ethereal entity that haunted demonologist Lorraine Warren, who was featured in The Conjuring and Annabelle movies.

"Before The Conjuring, before Annabelle, the darkest chapter was born," the trailer says. "The abbey has a long history. Not all good," a creepy voice adds.

"I had a series of visions when I was younger. And after each one ended the same thought would be stuck in my head," Sister Irene, played by Taissa Farmiga, adds. "I saw a nun. Word of my visions reached a church and I was asked to accompany a priest to an abbey in Romania."

In real life, Warren, who is portrayed on screen by Vera Farmiga, once told Conjuring and Nun director, James Wan, that she was being followed by a dark spirit through parts of her life. She described it was a "swirling tornado vortex" that had a good.

"I remember hearing that and my first thought was, 'Oh crap, that's going to be a CGI character.' I didn't want to do that," Wan told Gizmodo during an interview for The Conjuring 2 in 2016. "And so, it kind of took me a while to cement in my head what this vision was. And it came across eventually in a very organic way. Because it is a demonic vision that haunts her, that only attacks her, I wanted something that would attack her faith. Something that would threaten the safety of her husband. And so that was eventually how the idea of this very iconographic image of a holy icon cemented in my head."

0_The-Nun-excl-behind-the-scenes
In short, "The Nun" was not exactly based off a true story the way "The Conjuring" and "Annabelle" were inspired by real events. Warner Bros.

The "real" demon, Valak, who haunts the abbey in Romania is real, according to mythology, but he didn't take the form of a nun. As described in The Lesser Key of Solomon, Valak appears as a child with wings and rides on a two-headed dragon. He apparently commands a legion of demonic spirits

The abbey where the film takes place in Romania is real, according to historyvshollywood.com. The film was shot there, partly because it was cheaper than filming in other parts of Europe and also because there is a bounty of creepy monasteries. Scenes from the film, however, were not filmed inside the abbey.

The movie takes place after a nun commits suicide. "A priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun," the summary on IMDb.com reads.

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Maria Vultaggio is a Brooklynite originally hailing from Long Island. She studied English at Stony Brook University and interned at the ... Read more

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