The Conjuring: Last Rites director talks going "back to basics" with the final movie in the horror franchise: "We make these movies for fans"

Despite completely flipping the script with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – which was more of a supernatural thriller than a straight-up horror movie – director Michael Chaves explains why The Conjuring: Last Rites feels more like the first Conjuring film.

"Absolutely. Totally. We test-screened it a lot, and a lot of people would say that it felt full circle. And that was totally the goal," Chaves tells GamesRadar+, when asked if the feeling of Last Rites calling back to The Conjuring 2013 was intentional. "We love our fans and we love our audiences, and we make these movies for fans and for audiences."

Chaves shook the Conjuring universe up with his 2021 movie and the third Conjuring installment, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which follows the Warrens trying to help a young man avoid jail as he claims he was possessed by a demon when he stabbed his landlord to death. Despite the movie sitting at the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score out of all four mainline Conjuring movies, the film brought something new to the series, such as courtroom drama, a suspected serial killer, and even a witch.

"I love that we took a big swing with, kind of doing more of a thriller, supernatural serial killer with Conjuring 3," said Chaves of The Devil Made Me Do It. However, given Last Rites marks the Warrens' final outing as paranormal investigators, the director knew he had to take it right back to the beginning. "I think with this, I just wanted to return to basics, because we were also doing a very kind of Warren-centric story. And I think that was something that you needed to have something that felt very familiar."

One ingredient needed to make a Conjuring movie feel, well, like a Conjuring movie is cleverly placed jump scares. From phone cords to tricky mirrors, The Conjuring: Last Rites has no shortage of frights, which Chaves says take a lot of planning and preparation courtesy of himself and the team. "If you're going to a Mission: Impossible movie, it's to watch Tom Cruise jump off a cliff. If you're going to a Conjuring movie, it's for these scenes," adds Chaves.

Welcoming back Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga one last time, The Conjuring: Last Rites follows Ed and Lorraine Warren as they take on their final case, the Smurl haunting.

The Conjuring: Last Rites is out in cinemas now. For more, check out our guides on how to watch The Conjuring movies in order and our ranking of The Conjuring movies, and keep up with upcoming horror movies.