Writer’s note: The second paragraph of this article (just below the first image) contains a basic outline of the film’s premise. In the body of the review, there are some spoilers beyond what was inferred in the film’s own trailer.
For the longest time, haunted house films were the least respected category in the horror genre. There were a handful of exceptions, Poltergeist (1982) being the most iconic example, but overall the more acclaimed horror films leaned towards psychological or crime related terror. However, that perception changed with James Wan’s The Conjuring (2013), effortlessly elevating haunted house horror with classical, clever and effective storytelling and filmmaking craft. The Conjuring achieved acclaim from critics and mainstream audiences, without ever needing to sacrifice the scares expected by horror fans. Since its release, the resulting franchise has been a cornerstone of the genre for over a decade, bringing us now to the fourth and (allegedly) final film in the series, The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025).
Like all the previous films in the series, The Conjuring: Last Rites claims to be based on the true case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), who are most famous for their role in the infamous Amityville haunting. The story picks up in 1986, as Ed and Lorraine have recently retired from ghost hunting, but they are still giving lectures about the paranormal. Meanwhile, the Smurl family in Pennsylvania starts experiencing signs of a haunting in their home, which prompts a firestorm of media attention around their house. At the same time, Ed and Lorraine’s daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) starts having similarly grim paranormal experiences, eventually surmising that what she and the Smurls are going through must be connected. In order to protect Judy, Ed and Lorraine come out of retirement to investigate the Smurl house, hoping they can put an end to demonic forces which have tormented them since the beginning of their career.
Let’s address this upfront: the real Ed and Lorraine Warren were a pair of hacks who exploited gullible people, or in some cases, the mentally ill. You need only spend five minutes researching to discover that the most paranormal thing they ever witnessed was a chair moving half an inch (which was probably being pulled by some string). These films’ claims to being “based on true events” is wildly overstated. Despite this, part of what made the original film so much fun was how well it convinced viewers that it was indeed factual. James Wan highlighted the quieter moments, focusing on the characters slowly researching, discussing and investigating what’s happening. There are even moments where things thought to be evidence of ghosts are disregarded, with Lorraine stating that “most of the time there’s a logical explanation”. These touches made us relate to the heroes and victims, and thus made the scares (no matter how ridiculous) that much more frightening. The real Ed and Lorraine Warren may have been total frauds, but they clearly made some kind of deal with the devil to gain such flattering film depictions.
With every sequel (and spin-off), the attention to ‘realism’ has faded away, resulting in the third film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), barely even trying to maintain believability. The current Director, Michael Chaves, clearly wishes to right this wrong, as The Conjuring: Last Rites returns to the original film’s story structure. Namely, we are quickly given a recap as to who the Warrens are, we’re introduced to a relatable family, that family starts experiencing demonic hauntings in their house, the Warrens eventually show up, and they work to expose and expel the evil being. Think of the Warrens as the Hercule Poirot of this horror series, in that each film is just one of their many cases, and thus we’re not really supposed to care about their personal struggles. The main thing separating The Conjuring: Last Rites from the previous films, is that the paranormal detectives are given as much character development (and demonic encounters) as the victims of the haunted house.
At first, this seems to work in the film’s favour, as the viewer is interested to see how the Warrens’ troubles connect to the Smurl family. It is a relatively fun dynamic, seeing essentially two separate horror films play out simultaneously. That being said, once the Warrens actually enter the main investigation, their drama completely eclipses everything going on with the Smurls. This makes the film feel incomplete, given that more than half of the characters we’ve spent time with don’t receive proper acknowledgement by the time the story ends. This poor family went through some pretty horrific things, so you’d expect our heroes to at least see if our victims are okay. The Warrens seemingly just go back about their day once the day is won. At least check in on Grandma Smurl after she was pushed down the stairs by a ghost.
Additionally, the investigative element of these films seems to be completely gone, instead replaced with fairly boring exposition. Lorraine Warren was shown in previous films to be some kind of psychic medium, yet the team still needed to go to the library and do some research for each case. This time, the film wastes so much time building the scary moments that there’s no opportunity for proper investigative sequences. To compensate, Lorraine Warren’s psychic powers have been multiplied, meaning all she needs to do is close her eyes, read the room, and then she can tell the others what’s happening. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly riveting cinema to have characters just tell us what’s going on, especially in a genre that is meant to have a bit of mystery.
All of this could probably be forgiven if The Conjuring: Last Rites was scary and well produced. After all, part of what made the original film so great was simply the perfect filmmaking on display. With clever camerawork, tense editing and smart direction, even the silliest story can be saved. Happily, The Conjuring: Last Rites does indeed rise to the filmmaking prowess of its predecessors, delivering a handful of creative and interesting sequences we’ve never seen from this series. Sadly, while this does make The Conjuring: Last Rites enjoyable in the moment, the fact is it’s actually not that scary. Frustratingly, the potential was there for it to be as good as the original, given that the very few genuinely creepy moments were the ones which reminded us of the first film’s subtlety. If we’re being charitable, those who watch The Conjuring: Last Rites without ever having seen the previous entries, may come away from it somewhat impressed.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is far from being the the return to form fans were hoping for, yet it’s also not the outright disaster many feared. Ultimately, the series should probably end here before any future sequels completely destroy the positive reputation of the original. Maybe the filmmakers are aware of this possibility, given the film has been marketed as the finale. The ending even commits to this, tying a nice little bow the Warrens’ story. Although, the film has already made close to $500 million at the box office, so somehow I doubt this is really the ‘Last Rites’.
4.5/10
Best way to watch it: While performing an exorcism on the screen.
