238) The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

"Eight people live in this house. Eight people have experienced this. Eight people are not crazy."

Director
Michael Chaves

Cast
Patrick Wilson - Ed Warren
Vera Farmiga - Lorraine Warren
Mia Tomlinson - Judy Warren
Ben Hardy - Tony Spera
Rebecca Calder - Janet Smurl
Elliot Cowan - Jack Smurl
Kíla Lord Cassidy - Heather Smurl
Beau Gadsdon - Dawn Smurl
Molly Cartwright - Shannon Smurl
Tilly Walker - Carin Smurl
Peter Wight - Grandpa Smurl
Kate Fahy - Grandma Smurl
Steve Coulter - Father Gordon

 * Spoilers ahead *

When it comes to these "Conjuring" movies, and their spin-off films such as the "Annabelle" movies, "The Curse of La Llorona" (that was just terrible) and last and most certainly least, "The Nun" and "The Nun II," they frankly all stink. I shamefully and remorsefully confess publicly that I did watch "The Nun." If I recall, I think I was reviewing it for the newspaper I was freelancing for back then. Speaking as a Catholic, I thought it was too dull to be blasphemous.

However, I learned my lesson and had no interest whatsoever in watching "The Nun II." I'm sure I didn't miss anything, anyways. It's sad that Catholic nuns, brides of Christ who dedicate their lives to the service of Jesus Christ, and often live life the strongest, are so often the subject of mockery, ridicule, and in the case of these movies, depicted as demonic manifestations. Catholicism - the last acceptable bias?  

The only two movies in this Conjuring universe I thought were entertaining, which really isn't saying much at all, was 2014's "Annabelle" and 2016's "The Conjuring II." Mere luck!

Otherwise, I'm just not interested in these movies. And the only thing that brings me to this latest installment in the "Conjuring" universe is that I read the book, "The Haunted: The True Story of One Family's Nightmare" by Robert Curran about the Smurl family who allegedly moved into a severly haunted duplex in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Famed demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated the case. I have my own opinions and concerns about the Warrens. I find them questionable. That's another post for another time. 

The family's experiences as documented in Curran's book are terrifying to say the least. I read the book in two days. I couldn't put it down. 

Despite being billed as the grand finale as it frames the Smurl case as Ed and Lorraine Warren’s last investigation, "The Conjuring: Last Rites" drags audiences back into the same old repetitive ghost universe. And unfortunately, it’s just as bad as the rest of them.

There iss a 1991 made-for-TV movie about the Smurl family haunting called "The Haunted" with Sally Kirkland and Jeffrey DeMunn which I remember well. Though I was young when I saw it, I recall many of the scenes distinctly.

This fourth "Conjuring" movie starts off in 1964 right in the midst of an investigation that paranormal researchers Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) are conducting at a haunted antique store. The shop has a haunted mirror in their possession, and it's causing all kinds of spooky happenings. 

During the investigation, Lorraine, who's pregnant, looks into the mirror and has a vision of an evil spirit with her unborn baby. The experience is so frightening that she goes into premature labor.  

Ed races her to the hospital where, during delivery, the ghost from the antique store has followed and begins to manifest itself to Lorraine right there in the delivery room. 

Ed and Lorraine's baby girl is initially stillborn. However, Lorraine prays like she's never prayed before, and their baby is revived. They name their little girl Judy. 

The story jumps to 1986. The Smurl family have just moved into a house in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Parents Jack (Elliot Cowan) and Janet Smurl (Rebecca Calder) share the home with their kids, Dawn (Beau Gadsdon), Heather (Kíla Lord Cassidy), Carin (Tilly Walker) and Shannon (Molly Cartwright). Jack's parents, Mary and John Smurl (Peter Wight and Kate Fahy) also reside in the home. So, it's quite a full house. 

Stange and even violent paranormal disturbances quickly escalate in the house. Disembodied voices are heard. Frightening things appear. Objects move on their own. It all seems to begin when they give Heather an antique mirror for her Confirmation. Of course, it's the same mirror Ed and Lorraine came across years before at the antique store. 

Thanks to this mirror, the Smurls are plagued with three tormenting ghosts which are controlled by a demon. 

A Catholic priest named Fr. Gordon (Steve Coulter), who I had completely forgotten was in the first "Conjuring" movie, decides to help the Smurls on his own initiative. 

But that doesn't go the way he hoped it would. 

Meanwhile, by this period, Ed and Lorraine are done with paranormal investigations, primarily due to Ed's health problems. 

Their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson), who's boyfriend Tony Spera (Ben Hardy) proposes to her, is being targeted by the same demon who tried claim her when Lorraine went into labor. It's tormenting her with random psychic visions and such. These visions includes one of Annabelle the doll, because callbacks are evidently crucial for some reason. 

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as
Ed and Lorraine Warren.

When Judy hears  about the Smurls through media coverage, she's drawn to their home and tries to help them. Little does she realize that it's the demon from the mirror that's drawing her back to itself. 

Her presence at the Smurl home is what brings Ed and Lorraine there, too. Though they don't initially want to conduct any investigations, Judy talks them into helping them and conducting one last investigation. As expected, the demon isn't going to leave without a fight. 

The Smurl haunting is supposed to be their most terrifying and insane haunting ever - even more so than the Amityville horror, the Enfield poltergeist from part two, and whatever went on in "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" which I don't even remember. 

And yet, this movie is no different from the rest. It's certainly not anymore scary than any of the other "Conjuring" movies and their branch-off movies. 

Director Michael Chaves sat in the director's seat for "The Nun," "The Curse of La Llorona,"
"The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It," and "The Nun II." So, I'm not surprised at my reaction to this flick. Boring and bland!

My biggest issue with the film is that it presents evil as dominant and God as passive. In Catholic theology, demons are ultimately powerless before God’s authority, yet the movie shows the one priest as being effortlessly destroyed by a demon. It's a continual implication seen in too many other paranormal horror flicks, some I've mentioned on this platform, that divine protection and sacramental authority are ineffective. Most possession movies, and even some paranormal horror movies like this one, have these depictions. 

As for this movie, it undermines its own religious framework by portraying demons as stronger than the very faith and God's grace that's called upon and meant to oppose and overpower them. A priest, who represents Christ’s authority, is reduced to helplessness and ultimately death. It's a tired premise where evil is active and powerful while God appears silent and aloof no matter how much a character is calling upon Him for His intercession and protection. The demonic is able to do whatever it wants and God can't seem to do anything about it, or just doesn't care to. In fact, one wonders where God even is. Maybe He'll help? Maybe He won't? Who knows? Writers can't be bothered to learn what the Catholic Church teaches about these things when depicting Catholic elements. Accuracy shouldn't be treated like an obstacle. Shameful! 

"The Conjuring: Last Rites" is another same old spooky ghost movie that doesn't offer anything original in the way of paranormal thriller films. It uses the same scare tactics seen over and over again in these Conjuring movies, its adjacent movies, and other paranormal horror flicks. 

Atmosphere is important in creating a good horror movie these days rather than just throwing in some jump scares and creepy faces. The audience needs to imagine themselves in these seemingly helpless and realistic scenarios. Also, creating a well formed unsettling idea instead of relying completely on the big bad ghost or monster is also crucial.  

The structure in this fourth "Conjuring" movie is all too familiar. 

Familiarity kills the dread and jump scares, though maybe effective in the moment, doesn't replace that much needed overall sense of dread. 

The previous movie I reviewed, "Weapons," keeps an unknown source of dread through the whole story making the final act a really effective payoff. This Conjuring movie falls flat. 

The movie is simply underwhelming. So much of the story as told in the book is overlooked or just ignored. If the story of the Smurl haunting is true as it's claimed to be, the movie would be much more affective had it been presented as described by witnesses, and the experiences of the Smurls were depicted in the movie. What few elements the movie grabs feels exaggerated, which is funny to say because I'm referring to paranormal activity. Wouldn't that already feel exagerated? Somehow, the movie manages to mess that up. And I don't recall any mirror mentioned in Curran's book about the Smurl haunting. The movie took a lot of liberties with the actual story, and watered down what details it does borrow from the actual story.

The Smurl family are barely introduced in the movie. The audience is just hurled right into the middle of their experiences as if they're expected to know who they are before the film even starts. They're the subject of the movie but are barely memorable. They're treated like side characters to Ed, Lorraine, Judy and her fiance, Tony Spera. 

The movie just depends on empty scares, and what I call paranormal fire works at the end. 

It's just another over exaggerated bloviated depiction of a haunting under a sadly misguided notion that evil operates regardless of what God permits the demonic to do or not do.

If this movie is meant as some kind of send-off to the thread of "Conjuring" movies, it's a sad, forgettable experience. On second thought, maybe it's a welcomed farewell. Don't let the door slam you on the backside, "Conjuring 4." I've had enough of these flicks!

237) Weapons (2025)

"Those kids walked out of those homes, no one pulled them out. No one forced them."

Director
Zach Cregger

Cast
Julia Garner -Justine Gandy
Josh Brolin - Archer Graff
Alden Ehrenreich - Paul Morgan
Cary Christopher - Alex Lilly
Austin Abrams - James
Benedict Wong - Marcus Miller
Cary Christopher - Alex Lilly
Justin Long - Gary
Sara Paxton - Erica
Amy Madigan - Gladys

* Spoilers ahead *

Actress Amy Madigan, whom I remember most as Buck Russell’s (John Candy) girlfriend, Chanice Kobolowski, in the 1989 John Hughes comedy Uncle Buck, just won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2025 supernatural mystery horror film "Weapons." A well-deserved congratulations goes out to Amy Madigan. I think she established a new staying face in the lexicon of horror movie monsters. That monster being Aunt Gladys.

Back when "Weapons" came out last year, I heard a lot of good things about, even from commentators whom I was surprised had given it positive reviews. Based on that, I was anxious to see it but couldn't do so until now. 

It's directed by Zach Cregger who wrote and directed the 2022 horror movie "Barbarian" which I commented on last year. "Barbarian" is unsettling, disturbing, and grotesque. So, I anticipated "Weapons" to be similar with gross content. Hence, my surprise at the praises thrown at it. Well, it is unsettling and disturbing before being scary. Anytime a film depicts the vulnerability of the innocent threatened and attacked, what else can it be? 

For a horror movie, "Weapons" is such an intense mystery right from its start. 

The story begins at 2:17 am in Maybrook, PA as seventeen children, all from Justine Gandy's (Julia Garner) third-grade class, suddenly run out of their homes and vanish. One student, however, named Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) doesn't run away. 

Of course, worried parents think Justine must somehow be responsible. One of those parents, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), whose son Matthew is among those missing children, is very accusatory of Grandy, certain she must have a part to play in these disappearances. 

Amy Madigan as Gladys Lilly in "Weapons."

Justine attempts to figure out why Alex is the only student in her class who didn't run off. Despite warnings from the school principal, Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong) that she cannot make contact with her student while she's on administrative leave, Justine attempts to talk to Alex outside of school. She even goes so far as to snoop around the outside of his home. What she finds is truly unusual and something that can't be ignored. But what else can she do? Justine also turns to alcohol to get through the amount of scorn and accusations parents are throwing at her daily. 

On top of that, she has a chance encounter with her old boyfriend, Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich) who works as a police officer. They hook up for the night, though Paul is married. Shame on both of them!

Later, Paul spots a drug-addicted vagrant named James (Austin Abrams) in the middle of an attempted break-in. When he catches James and arrests him after a chase, he accidentally pokes in the finger on a drug needle in James's pocket. Angered, he punches James in the face and then tries to rectify the brutality by letting James off with a warning. He also tells James to never cross his path in the future. 

Meanwhile Archer has some unusual dreams and visions about the disappearance of his son. He conducts his own investigation as well which leads him to a specific spot where he thinks the missing children might be located.

James the vagrant also stumbles upon a location and thinks he found the missing children. He calls the police in the hopes of obtaining the cash reward, which leads him back into Officer Paul's path. 

The individual stories of these characters are all tied together, and they all have visions of an unusual woman named Gladys (Amy Madigan). 

And this same Gladys eventually shows up to Alex's house when the film gets to his story. Alex's mom invites her to stay as Gladys is a distant relative who no longer has a place to live, and her health is declining.
The movie unfolds through various perspectives from multiple characters. The dread, suspense and anticipation are drawn out this way. Thankfully, it's not so drawn out that it becomes frustrating and boring. The pace and run-time are just right. It hooked me! The characters are so well fleshed out that I was truly concerned about each one, especially the teacher and Josh Brolin's character.
Jennifer Garner's performance is fantastic. She goes from a being caring schoolteacher to a coping and struggling resident who's the subject of hatred among the residents. So, she turns to booze to cope.
The strongest element in "Weapons" is missing school children. I tried to understand where the title comes from. I think the story uses that imagery of children as instruments or “weapons” in order for the audience to consider society's violation of innocence and disdain for the vulnerable (children specifically).
The premise specifically deals with corruption of youth as a result of the occult and occult practices.

In "Weapons," as in reality, evil/sin dominates the will and enslaves people. 

And once evil is exposed, it's easier to defeat as the film's conclusion, to some degree, manages to depict well enough. Even when someone's delivered from evil, it still leaves a scar. I appreciate the depiction "Weapons" conveys as it's a truth seldom seen in film, especially horror.

By chance, I happened to see a post on the "Creepy Catalog" Facebook page claiming that "Weapons" has a similar plot to an episode from the anthology TV series "Night Gallery" called "Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay." The episode, from season two, episode three, aired on Sept. 9th, 1971. While I've seen several episodes of "Night Gallery," created by Rod Serling who also created "The Twilight Zone" for those who didn't know, I don't recall this episode. So, I looked into it. 
In that episode, an unassuming old lady named Ada moves in with a young couple she's related to. It turns out Aunt Ada is a witch who puts some sort of spell or hex over the husband so she can use him as a sort of puppet who does whatever she commands him to do. Even...murder!
So, like "Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay," the movie has a premise of evil managing to sneak within an otherwise peaceful home. Then a victim loses his free will to sin thanks to a terrifying supernatural control from an unassuming elderly family member using a supernatural power for evil purposes. Well, that's interesting! 

"Weapons" gave me something very few other modern horror/thriller movies convey. Chills. I can't recall the last movie that gripped my intrigue and attention, and even made me a little nervous.
I don't know what other movie I can compare that apprehension and tension to. The 2022 survival thriller "Fall" does come to mind. My palms began to sweat when I saw that. Still, they're two completely different movies.
"Weapons" doesn’t slither its way onto the screen like a pretentious thriller. It skips the self-aggrandizing introduction and gets to the damage. It kicks the door in, dumps a bag of jagged anxieties on the table, and dares you to pay attention to each one.
Right as the premise grabs your attention and sensitivities by the shirt collar, it throws you right into the scenario with an opening narration told by a child. The movie isn't concerned with jump scares. Rather, it panics the audience with the dread within its tone and atmosphere. To see the most innocent and vulnerable among us so easily taken over by evil is jarring enough. And the adults in the story are just as helpless.
Without a doubt this is one of the most suspenseful movies I've seen!

236) The Changeling (1980)

"Whatever has to be done, has to be done by me."

Director
Peter Medak

Cast
George C. Scott - John Russell
Trish Van Devere - Claire Norman
Melvyn Douglas - Sen. Joseph Carmichael
John Colicos = DeWitt
Jean Marsh - Joanna Russell

Michelle Martin - Kathy Russell

Madeleine Sherwood - Mrs. Norman

The last time I saw the 1980 supernatural horror/thriller movie "The Changeling" starring George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere stands out clearly in my memory. It was back in high school over 20-years ago. 

I went to a Catholic boys boarding school back then which also included a four-year Liberal Arts college. The school's headmaster, a priest we'll call "Fr. A," showed us dorm students this movie on a Saturday night. And the best part of the movie night which only happened three times with Fr. A during my four years of school, was that we got to watch it in the college reading room - a prestigious part of the campus that us peon high school boys were otherwise not allowed to step foot in. He ordered us pizza, soda, and we watched "The Changeling." Thanks, Father! 

It's a flick that has certainly stayed with me primarily because of that movie night with Fr. A in the college reading room. Plus, it has George C. Scott. 

I forgot the plot though since I first saw it. I remembered the general story, but that's about it. 

Still, it wasn't the kind of movie this kind of school would generally show. There's nothing wrong with the movie. It's just with the sensitivities of traditional Catholic parents being what they are, a paranormal thriller seems like the kind of flick that would cause a row. It's rated PG-13, if anyone is wondering. Fortunately, no one complained. Not that I know of, anyway. Honestly, so what if any did?

Anyways, I decided to stroll through movie watching memory lane and put on "The Changeling" thanks to my free subscription to the Fawesome Horror movies app. Afterall, since my high school days, I have much more of a fondness for George C. Scott. By the way, Fawesome is notorious for saturating their movies with tons of commercials, often the same few commercials, and all running on a loop for two and a half minutes per each commercial break. It's a frustrating app!
In this movie, Scott plays John Russell - a musical composer from New York City who, at the beginning of the story, loses his wife Joanna (Jean Marsh) and their young daughter Kathy (Michelle Martin) in a tragic car accident up along a snow-packed country road. 

The grieving widower leaves the city and moves to Seattle to embrace a quieter life while continuing to do what he loves most - composing music. He hopes this change of life will help ease the pain of loss even if just a little. 

There, he rents a gorgeous old Victorian mansion. 

However, the old house is already inhabited by a ghost which quickly makes its presence known. Little by little, the spirit tries to reveal to John the evil secrets that took place inside that house long before he ever moved in. 

John's curiosity is, of course, on alert as paranormal happenings keep occurring around him. Thunderous banging sounds come from somewhere up in the upper floors of the house. Doors slam on their own. Objects move on their own. It's a real scare show!

John discovers a secret door hidden in the back of a storage closet. Behind it he finds a sealed attic that clearly hasn't been seen or touched for years. 

George C. Scott in "The Changeling."

There's some web-covered furniture up there, along with an antiquated wheelchair and a music box that plays an unsettling tune. What's unsettling about it is that it's a tune he has been composing. 

When John has a vision of a young boy drowning in a bathtub, he starts drawing some dark conclusions. 

He enlists the help of Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere) from the local Historical Society to aid him in uncovering the house’s unsavory past.

They both find that a young boy named Joseph Carmichael lived there back in the early part of the century. 

John and Claire have a medium come to the house to conduct a seance where Joseph's voice is captured on audio. This is where traditional Catholic parents would lose their mind!

Joseph's rich and powerful father murdered him by drowning and then replaced him with an orphan so that the family fortune would remain. That imposter Joseph Carmichael grew up to be a U.S. Senator (Melvyn Douglas) and a patron of the historical society that owns that very same house. 

Now, John takes it upon himself to ensure that justice can be served for the late (and real) Joseph Carmichael so he can rest in peace, once and for all. 

The movie is more a paranormal thriller than a paranormal horror movie. It strikes me as such because of George C. Scott's performance. It's not a bad performance given what Scott has to work with, and surely with the direction he's given. In fact, he's great in the film. 

Scott never seems to act scared or terrified as he resides in a huge house with a restless ghost. Sure, his character is coping with an unbearable tragedy. 

Still, all the paranormal activity just rouses his curiosity enough to dig deeper and deeper into the house. That would be a logical reaction, but so would fear and trepidation. 

This lack of fear from the main character steals the fear from the audience. If John isn't scared, why should the audience be scared? 

In one scene, Scott's character yells at the ghost in exhausted frustration as it manifests its anger at him after John's first attempt to make contact with Sen. Joseph Carmichael which ends in failure and humiliation. He hurls some obscenities at the ghost, which slams all the doors in the house one after the other as soon as he returns home. 

"What is it you want," John shouts. 

He stares up the huge staircase anticipating some kind of response. 

"What do you want from me? I've done everything I can do!" His voice echoes back from the bowels of the house as if to taunt him for his defeat. "There's nothing more to do!" Is he living with an angry ghost or a spoiled brat? 

I think Scott, playing Ebenezer Scrooge, conveys a lot more fear when he encounters the ghost of Jacob Marley in the 1984 version of "A Christmas Carol" than he does in this move. 

Still, Scott is fantastic in this movie for what he's going for. It's that his performance doesn't go as far as it very well could and should have. In other words, I don't think Scott was used to his full potential. He is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood history.

That's not to say there's no emotion in the movie. There is! John is trying to cope with loss, after all. And now he's found himself trying to unravel and expose an old secret no one was ever meant to know about, all revealed to him by a child's ghost. 

There's an unsettling atmosphere in "The Changeling" that's certainly haunting. The story doesn't rely on jump scares or in-your-face effects. It's all about the atmosphere, tension, plot and paranormal happenings.

Trish Van Devere as Claire.

It's a much more genuine or authentic haunted house story than others I've seen.  

The movie tries to scare, but what terror the movie possesses emerges naturally, unfolding with an eerie authenticity. 

The story is sinisterly engrossing and a haunting study in suspense. Its key scene is a seance in which the spirit of the young Joseph Carmichael speaks through a medium via psychography, or automatic writing. It's not an activity I would recommend nor endorse as it's a straight path towards losing one's soul and mind. 

Still, it's when the story grows the most intense. After this scene, John listens to the reel recordings of this seance and hears the voice of a child whispering above the medium's voice. 

"The Changeling" has an appealing classic atmosphere of a haunted house story. It manages to take the audience along with a steady increase of tension and foreboding. Grief, pain and loss are strong themes in this story. "The Changeling" tells a story not just about a haunted house, but a tale of isolation. It could have used much more for the sake of fear it's trying to depict. In this regard, I think the movie falls short. 

But I love that old fashioned atmosphere, increasing intensity and crawling fear. That sense of isolation is a strong ingredient in a paranormal horror flick, or most other horror subgenres. It's seen in paranormal movies such as "The Others" (2001) with Nicole Kidman, which is all about a grieving mother in a mysterious house. It's effectively used in "Lake Mungo" (2008) which is a really understated eerie film that deals with family tragedy and a haunting. And it's utilized in "The Innocents" (1961) which is a classic gothic film which pairs isolation with repression and the sense of a lost child. 
Familiar terrors, when well told, still have the power to grab the full attention of audiences. 

However, the story soon catches itself and veers the atmosphere towards a mystery than a ghost story, only to bring it back to that paranormal feel similar to a campfire ghost story. 

It's not terrible. It's just not as scary as I wanted it to be. 

Director Peter Medak directed a string of British comedies prior to directing "The Changeling" such as "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" (1972) with Alan Bates and Janet Suzman, "The Ruling Class"  (1972) with Peter O'Toole, "Ghost in the Noonday Sun" (1974) with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, and "The Odd Job" (1978) with Monty Python veteran Graham Chapman. So, this seems like a change of pace for Medak. Evidently, the story is based on real events experienced by playwright and composer Russell Hunter. Look it up! 

Regarding "The Changeling" Medak said, "I'd like to make a civilized sort of picture, that people would still go and see. A friend of mine said that I should make 'Hamlet on roller skates." 1

It's worth noting that George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere were married at the time up until Scott's death in 1999. 

Despite the flaws, "The Changeling" somehow manages to earn the status of "underrated classic." 

 

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1 Michael J. Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983), [115].