By John Corrado
The Conjuring: Last Rites is the fourth and supposedly final film in The Conjuring series that began in 2013, and the ninth (or tenth) film in the horror franchise if you count the various spinoffs we have gotten over the years.
The series peaked with the first film and its 2016 sequel, both directed by James Wan, with Michael Chaves (who also helmed spinoffs The Curse of La Llorona and The Nun II) taking over to direct the third instalment The Devil Made Me Do It in 2021. Chaves now returns with Last Rites, and it is an improvement over his previous film.
This film is presented as the final case for Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), and as a surprisingly bittersweet swan song for the series, it’s pretty good. The story is mainly set in 1986, with the renowned parapsychologists having basically retired from the field, and giving lectures to bored university students who liken what they do to the movie Ghostbusters.
Ed has already suffered a major heart attack, and is being warned by doctors that he can’t have another. They are looking forward to retirement and spending more time with their now young adult daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson), who is preparing to marry her boyfriend Tony Spera (Ben Hardy). But they will get called back for one final case.
Like the previous films, Last Rites is inspired by real events that the Warrens investigated, in this case the Smurl haunting, involving the family of Jack (Elliot Cowan) and Janet Smurl (Rebecca Calder) in Pennsylvania. They are being terrorized by seemingly demonic forces, brought into their home through an antique mirror that is gifted to their daughter Heather (Kila Lord Cassidy) for her confirmation.
This is probably the most sprawling of these films (and the longest in the series by a hair at 135 minutes), as it balances being about the Warrens, their daughter, and the Smurl family. In many ways, the film has to balance being a family drama and a more conventional haunted house story. If Chaves is not quite as strong a directorial voice as Wan (who now acts as producer), he really finds his footing here, and does a decent job of crafting a film that remains engaging across both storylines.
Chaves stages some creepy set-pieces that are well shot by cinematographer Eli Born, including one unsettling sequence involving priest Father Gordon (Steve Coulter). If you’re a fan of supernatural horror, it’s easy to appreciate the texture of these films, particularly how they treat parapsychology, religious faith, and the Catholic rite of exorcism (including use of the Prayer to St. Micheal) in a respectful and serious way.
The heart of these movies has always been the captivating portrayals of real life figures Ed and Lorraine Warren, particularly the way Wilson and Farmiga play them. The story allows Wilson and Farmiga to say goodbye to these characters, and they handle the film’s more poignant moments, especially at the end, very well.
It’s also worth nothing that the very solid opening flashback, which has actors Orion Smith and Madison Lawlor portraying younger versions of Ed and Lorraine, offers a promising look at their potential for reprising these roles in a planned prequel. It would be a way for the series to continue, while allowing Last Rites to stand on its own as a fitting sendoff for Wilson and Farmiga.
Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)
Bonus Features (4K Ultra HD):
These movies are often quite dark, and the 4K disc handles the picture well, with its shadows and contrast. The disc also includes a trio of “behind the scenes” featurettes. The package ships with a slipcover.
• Last Rites: An Era Ends (8 minutes, 45 seconds): A nice look at Wilson and Farmiga’s roles throughout the series, and how this film serves as a tribute to their characters and the franchise.
• The Conjuring: Crafting Scares (8 minutes, 42 seconds): Looks at some of the iconic set-pieces across all four movies, how the series has always prioritized tension over gore, and Wan passing the torch to Chaves, who talks about wanting to pay tribute to the first film as well as classic horror movies of the 1980s, including using the same lenses as Poltergeist.
• Micheal Chaves: Believer (7 minutes, 5 seconds): Chaves talks about his love for horror movies and being raised Catholic but remaining a skeptic about the supernatural until meeting the real Smurl family, and having a very creepy experience in an old house in England.
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