The film, the final Conjuring, released on Sept. 5 by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, didn’t have the trademark fright of the previous films. The Conjuring: Last Rites was a slow ride compared to its predecessors. It dragged and overhyped the few jump scares it offered.
The Conjuring: Last Rites shows the Warrens working on a case that targets their own daughter: Judy Warren, played by Mia Tomlinson. Ed, played by Patrick Wilson, and Lorraine, played by Vera Farmiga, see Judy as their light and joy so losing her would be devastating for them; especially after almost losing Judy 20 years earlier in the same case.
As the final installment of the franchise, the film was mediocre, not nearly as frightening as the previous installments. Along with being not as scary, the storyline felt weaker than ever and was a disappointment knowing that this film was a finale to a franchise that had grossed more than 2 billion at the box office.
“I’ll give it a five [for a horror scale from one to 10]. I feel like it wasn’t that scary at all, like it wasn’t what I expected” said Mawa Jabarkhel, a sophomore at Briar Woods. “I’ve seen a lot more scarier movies.”
Despite not being as scary as the previous films, The Conjuring: Last Rites attempted something new as the audience witnessed more of the Warrens’ personal lives and leaned the movie towards a mix of sentimental and horror. Unfortunately the sentimental aspect of the movie became the reason for The Conjuring: Last Rites not being frightening.
“It could be better, but it was good enough.” said Nidhi Kanuri, a sophomore at Briar Woods High School.
Wilson and Farmiga’s performances were excellent as always as they have played their characters for over a decade but this time we have a new Judy Warren played by Mia Tomlinson who replaced Sterling Jerins to play the adult version of the character. Normally when there’s a new actor filling in an iconic role, especially in a popular franchise, fans don’t like it, but Tomlinson played her role perfectly.
The making and directing of the film was moderate but lacked the effect and quality present in the first two films. “Between then and “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” the fourth and final “Conjuring” movie, directed by Michael Chaves, there has been a significant decrease in quality,” was noted in the New York Times.
However, a particular scene in the movie seemed questionable to Jabarkhel: “The scene where the doll Annabelle is chasing the girl, I feel like it looked like AI, like the Annabelle grew,” she laughed. “I feel like it looked like an AI (AI-generated) Roblox game chasing the girl.”
As the franchise is ending, fans will miss their favorite horror couple Ed and Lorraine Warren. Many hope this is not the last they see of this duo that has fought paranormal entities for 12 years, though some followers of the series expect to spot them in a future project in the “Conjuring Universe.”
“I feel like they [the Conjuring movies] would continue but I don’t feel like it would be like based on Lorraine and Ed Warren” said Sumedha Karmankar, a sophomore at Briar Woods, also mentioning that maybe the future movies in the Conjuring universe may not correspond but correlate with the Warrens.
Although the movie didn’t match everyone’s expectations, there were still some scenes to appreciate coming out of it.
“I think my favorite scene was definitely the scene where the girl is like rewinding the tapes and then seeing what happened when they first got the mirror and the dad was getting possessed,” said Kanuri. “They were happening at the same time, so I think that was the best.”
Ultimately The Conjuring: Last Rites was a disappointment, it delivered adequate entertainment but fell short of franchise standards. This big finale trades its well-known horror scenes and scares for a story that turned away fans of the series, and although it gave them closure, it just wasn’t what they were hoping for. So if you want a fright to watch this Halloween then stick to the previous Conjuring films.
