The Conjuring: Last Rites (15)

In 1986 Pennsylvania, mother Janet Smurl courts news headlines around the world by claiming there is an evil presence in her family home and other members of her terrified brood have witnessed this malevolence. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate the chilling claims and the wife deduces there is a dark force inside the house that she has encountered before - the first demon the Warrens faced when they were young and inexperienced.

LondonNet Film Review

The Conjuring: Last Rites (15) Film Review from LondonNet

In some Christian denominations, last rites are administered by a priest shortly before death to commend the faithful to a higher power before their soul ascends. It’s fitting that this should also be the subtitle of the ninth and final chapter of The Conjuring saga, the highest grossing horror franchise of all time, inspired by the real-life cases of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Bringing the story full circle from the Warrens’ abortive first case, The Conjuring: Last Rites wheezes and puffs for the best part of 90 minutes before tentatively springing to life in a final 45 minutes laden with demonic dolls and tormented spirits that lurk in the shadows…

Director Michael Chaves’s picture achieves one predictable jump scare but languishes for extended periods in limbo between gloomily atmospheric and creepy. This sombre final hurrah is the least unsettling chapter of the series with a heavy reliance on the hoary trope of characters wandering off alone into darkened basements and attics to be rewarded with a nasty surprise. Scriptwriters Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick overstuff with extraneous detail from the Warren family tree to provide narrative closure that is neatly tied in a blood red bow with real-life photos and grainy footage over the end credits.

It’s 1986 and Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) have retired their spooky services to protect the husband from another heart attack and concentrate on their daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson), who has been blessed with the same gift of ghoulish foresight as her mother. Retired police officer Tony Spera (Ben Hardy) is dating Judy and knows a little about the family history but is still interested in a long-term commitment. Ed shows Tony around the locked room of demonic artefacts and explains that keeping these trinkets stops the evil from escaping: “We find it safer to keep the genie in the bottle.”

Soon after, the Warrens’ good friend Father Gordon (Steve Coulter) alerts them to Jack (Elliot Cowan) and Janet Smurl (Rebecca Calder) in Pennsylvania, who claim to be under siege from an evil presence. Lorraine deduces the insidious darkness is something they have encountered before – the first demon the Warrens faced when they were young and inexperienced. Older, wiser but still terrified, Lorraine and Ed brace for an epic battle with a monstrous manifestation that has been waiting patiently for the couple and their kin.

The Conjuring: Last Rites brings the mild terror full circle with a whimper that sounds like the franchise’s death rattle. Farmiga and Wilson repeat their dauntless double-act, splashing through gallons of imagined blood, while new additions Tomlinson and Hardy are slowly established as the next generation of demon-busting crusaders. Some mantles are best left untouched.

– Kim Hu