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!