When James Wan introduced The Conjuring to the audiences in 2013, it became a hallmark for modern-day horror narratives. The old-fashioned chills with an emotional core in Ed and Lorraine Warren’s paranormal stories resonated with viewers of different generations, giving the franchise a cult status.
After more than a decade of success and jump scares horror fans swear by, The Conjuring series comes to a close with Last Rites, a Michael Chaves directorial which hit screens worldwide on September 5. But the send-off it gets fails to do justice to the franchise’s legacy, and often feels like a family drama the audience did not sign up for.
Here are five reasons why this swan song fails to deliver a farewell The Conjuring deserved.
Where is the horror?
When The Conjuring hit theatres over a decade ago, it felt fresh. But the horror genre has since undergone a sea of change. Even in the recent Hollywood horror flicks like Weapons or Bring Her Back, filmmakers have been experimenting with dread on the big screen, adding more innovation than mere jump scares.
Last Rites clings to well-worn tropes — flickering shadows, demonic faces from the Exorcist playbook, and endless mirror gags. There are scenes that stand out — a basement sequence that plays cleverly with silhouettes — but the film rarely surprises. What once felt classic now comes across as stale.
It’s more of a family drama
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga — as Ed and Lorraine — have always been the franchise’s strongest asset, adding an emotional core to the supernatural tale. But here, the couple spends the bulk of the runtime on the sidelines. Ed’s frail health and his daughter Judy’s (Mia Tomlinson) awakening of psychic abilities dominate their storyline, making the viewers feel as if they are watching a family drama. The Warrens’ track runs parallely to the central haunting plot, which gets frustratingly boring. By the time the Warrens finally intervene, the urgency is gone. For a film sold as their “final case” it’s exasperating how long the narrative unfolds without them.
The Smurl family is not fleshed out well, either
The Pennsylvania-set haunting of the Smurl family should have been the beating heart of the movie. Early scenes with Janet Smurl (Rebecca Calder) evoke a creeping sense of dread, and Heather (Kíla Lord Cassidy) is initially positioned as a major character. Yet their story is treated more as an after-thought addition to the Warrens’ family drama and the Smurls are reduced to supporting material. Heather, in particular, disappears in the third act. What begins as their story becomes merely another case file in service of the franchise’s leads.
A ghost that forgets to make an appearance
The biggest appeal of The Conjuring universe is its demons. Be it the Annabelle doll or the sinister nun Valak, their mere names give viewers goosebumps. But Last Rites is a case of a missing ghost. We are told a backstory about a mother-daughter duo who were murdered by a man, who later kills himself. Now all three of them are haunting the Smurls. But they fail to evoke any sense of dread. We are told that there is a sinister demon at play, but we never get a chance to meet the entity.
A finale that lacks weight
The marketing for Last Rites leaned heavily on this being the Warrens’ last investigation — a case so significant that it explained their eventual retreat. But the end product is underwhelming. The climactic confrontation is serviceable but indistinguishable from earlier films. Rather than a bold closing chapter, Last Rites delivers an ordinary resolution, and we are not convinced why the case forced the Warrens to stop investigating the paranormal.