The Conjuring: Last Rites Review

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren try to vanquish a demon from a family’s home

The end of an era as the final instalment of The Conjuring franchise is here as we were kindly invited by Warner Bros to an early private screening of The Conjuring: The Last Rites to bring you our thoughts.

What makes this particular instalment stand out over the rest is this beautiful sense of depth that the filmmakers have dived into with a very rich backstory and fleshed-out narrative. We open in the 1960’s as we see one of the Warrens’ early investigations before we jump to 1986 where the infamous Smurl family haunting (a famous real-life Warrens case) begins.

Horror stories rarely dive into strong narratives but The Conjuring: The Last Rites embraces it and instead of relying on the usual jump scares to make you jump here and there it now feels as though you’re more invested in the characters and it makes the creepier jumpy moments all the more worthwhile.

Knowing this is the final instalment of The Conjuring franchise is something the filmmakers have clearly paid attention to as there feels like a real heart and fond farewell went into this one to do the story justice and to bring everything full circle.

I thoroughly enjoyed the extra exposition around the characters and the creepy moments were certainly amplified by this extra deep-dive into the Warrens original case and the main focus of the story, their daughter Judy (played by Mia Tomlinson).

We are introduced to her character alongside her boyfriend Tony (played by Ben Hardy who is excelled by the way) and we bounce between serious and fun-lighthearted tones as the serious nature of the film is still oozing as an undertone even through the more jokey scenes but these jokey scenes certainly lead you down the garden path of false security before we’re thrown right back into the central focus of the story, a haunted mirror and a demonic possession.

Speaking of haunted mirrors, the props in this particular instalment are just as memorable as in the original films. The creepy mirror that will give me nightmares for days along with a very creepy crawling doll and a lovely little rocking horse carousel. They’re all iconic props in their own right and they were on display at a Conjuring pop-up in London that was available for three-days only (ending today).

The attention to details on the items and the subtle focus on the other props makes them iconic, they don’t need to be the star of the show (the mirror is) but they serve alongside to deliver the truly creepy moments throughout the film.

Craftsmanship on the mirror just has to be admired though it truly is chilling and a production used mirror (never said if it was screen-used or not) was also on display and it looks even better in person with the film certainly dimming the lights down and giving it a more creepy look but at the same time obscuring all of the wonderful details that it possesses.

Costume and set design are absolutely spot on here and performances are really at an all time high, Mia Tomlinson ( who plays Judy Warren) really drives the heart of the story as she’s struggling with her own clairvoyant abilities inherited from her mother. Tony is this eager to please boyfriend hellbent on Ed Warren’s approval and his character brings such a light ambience to proceedings.

The scares are certainly thriving in this final instalment but it never feels over done on the jump scares, of course they’re going to be included (it’s a Conjuring film after all) but they never feel done to death and hit home at the right parts due to good narrative packing and tension building. It never once relies on cheap thrills, this movie feels the most fleshed-out film of the entire franchise and feels like the most perfect send off for these incredible characters.

The Conjuring: The Last Rites is a strong horror movie, I’d go as far as saying it’s my favourite in the entire franchise. It respects the roots and the source material and drives a real heart and terror into proceedings.

It doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel it just needs to keep the cogs turning old faithful in delivering a rather wonderful send off to a rather superb franchise.

A fond farewell and an incredible feature.

I highly recommend this one! 

If you missed our trip to the London pop-up Occult Museum to celebrate the release of the movie then CLICK HERE, there’s also a vlog of the experience within the article for you to check out this rather cool Warner Bros pop-up experience!