THE CONJURING: LAST RITES Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Michael Chaves
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Kila Lord Cassidy, Jack Cowan, Rebecca Calder, Steve Coulter, Madison Lawlor, Orion Smith, Beau Gadsdon, Peter Wight, John Brotherton, Frances O’Connor, Lili Taylor, MacKenzie Foy, Julian Hilliard, Madison Wolfe, James Wan.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is the ninth and supposedly final film in the Conjuring franchise which is loosely based on the experiences of paranormal investigators and supernatural ghostbusters Ed and Lorraine Warren (played in the films by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga). The film explores the last case of psychic phenomena investigated by the Warrens and gives it a more personal involvement for the family.
The film opens in 1964 when Ed and a pregnant Lorraine investigate a curious antique mirror with an ornate carving in a curio shop. When Lorraine touches the mirror it cracks and she collapses after experiencing a vision of a horrific entity. Ed races her to the hospital where the doctors operate. Their daughter Judy is initially stillborn, but after a couple of minutes she miraculously is brought back to life.
The film then jumps ahead 22 years. We meet the Smurl family as they gather in their crowded family home to celebrate the confirmation of their daughter Heather (Kila Lord Cassidy). Her grandparents have bought her a gift of a large mirror, which audiences will immediately recognise as the one from that earlier scene. Soon after strange events and visions begin to shake up the family. When they suspect that these events centre around the strange looking mirror they throw it into the trash. But that seems to make matters worse. And mysteriously the mirror again seems to end up in the family’s attic.
Father Gordon (Steve Coulter), the Catholic priest who has assisted the Warrens in some of their previous investigations, approaches Ed and Lorraine on behalf of the desperate and scared Smurl family. But Ed, who has suffered a couple of heart attacks, says that they are retired from the ghost busting business. The public interest in their exploits also seems to have waned. They are celebrating his birthday. Judy’s ex-cop boyfriend Tony Spera (Ben Hardy, from Eastenders, etc) proposes to Judy (Mia Tomlinson, in her film debut), much to Ed’s chagrin. Ed is overly protective of Judy.
Then Father Gordon dies. At his funeral Judy, who seems to have inherited Lorraine’s psychic abilities, has a vision of him dying at the Smurl’s home and heads off to investigate. Concerned about Judy, Ed and Lorraine eventually follow. They recognise the mirror and its malevolent power and set about trying to exorcise its hold on the family.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is based on the true story of the Smurl family from the mining town of West Pittston in Pennsylvania, who believed that their house was haunted by demons between 1974 and 1989. Their situation was investigated by a number of psychics, including the Warrens who had investigated lots of paranormal activity locations in their career. The story of the Smurl family was previously told in a 1991 television movie The Haunting.
This film has been written by a team of writers – Ian B Goldberg (the tv series Fear The Walking Dead, etc), Richard Naing (The Autopsy Of Jane Doe, etc) and series regular David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. But they have never met a horror film cliché they didn’t like – a cursed mirror, demonic possessions, possessed dolls, ghostly sightings, creaks and unsettling noises, things in the attic, lots of blood, and storms with lightning and thunder – and here they and director Michael Chaves (a horror veteran who directed the previous instalment in the Conjuring series The Devil Made Me Do It) throw them all at the screen. But it makes it all seem familiar and pretty predictable. The script also touches on themes of family, sacrifice.
Chaves directs in workmanlike fashion, and while he throws in a few well-timed jump scares, there is little here that we haven’t seen before. The film is a little uneven, and its 135 minute run time seems unjustified. Cinematographer Eli Born (Companion, etc) uses dark and moody lighting to heighten the tension. Harry Cohen‘s creepy sound design also adds to the material and the feeling of dread. John Frankish’s production design for the Smurl’s house is also very good, giving the material a nicely claustrophobic feel.
As the final film in the franchise though the filmmakers have given the material a more personal touch for the Warren family as the events that unfold involve the family and place them in danger, which gives it a more emotional heft than some of the other films in the long running series. As usual the strong chemistry between Wilson and Farmiga, honed over the course of twelve years, adds strength to the material. Wilson brings a suitably world-weary quality to his performance this time as his Ed seems plagued by doubts and fears about his own mortality while Farmiga conveys a vulnerability to her usually strong Lorraine.
The Conjuring: Last Rites may not be the best film in the Conjuring franchise, but it gives the characters a fitting finale. The film ends with the wedding between Judy and Tony, which adds a bittersweet tone to the film and sends off the Warrens in nice fashion. And in a clever touch we see amongst the guests characters from the previous films in the series. Audiences will be able to spot the cameos from the likes of Frances O’Connor, Lili Taylor, MacKenzie Foy, Julian Hilliard, Madison Wolfe, James Wan, and even the real-life Tony Spera and Judy Warren put in a brief appearance. During the final credits we get vision and archival footage of the real Ed and Lorraine Warren.
★★★
