The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"

"After all these years, it wasn't done with us," Vera Farmiga's clairvoyant Lorraine Warren ominously says of the evil entity in new horror movie The Conjuring: Last Rites. It scared her and doting demonologist husband Ed (Patrick Wilson) off decades ago – seen in a 60s-set prologue; a neat, albeit random and slightly lazy, way to set up the Big Bad and establish our heroes' connection to 'em – and now it's back to finish them off via a haunted mirror and a God-fearing family in Pennsylvania. In short, they've seen all this before, and despite the signs telling them it's an ill-judged idea, they've come back for more. 10 movies in and, sadly, similar can be said for us longtime fans of the franchise.

After The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It shook things up by centering on a murder trial case and forcing the Warrens to team up with the police to try to prove possession rather than expunge it, the surprisingly safe final film in the Warren-led main series takes things back to basics.

In 1986, said mirror is picked up secondhand by the Smurls and given to Heather, one of their grandchildren, as a gift to commemorate her confirmation. But almost as soon as she unwraps it, creepy things start happening in their home. The spooky goings-on escalate quickly, from levitating dolls to vivid visions of an axe murderer stomping the halls and Heather's sister vomiting shards of glass, prompting the family to beg the church for help. When it doesn't heed their call, the Warrens are encouraged by their psychic daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) to step in. Ed's fragile heart, be damned.

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Frantic frights

Director Michael Chaves, having earned his jumpscare chops helming The Nun 2 and The Curse of La Llorona, deploys some genuinely effective frights here. It's a Rolodex of spine-tingling set-pieces involving telephone cords, television screens, and changing rooms, even if many rely too heavily on CGI and feel copy-and-pasted from other movies. Remember Janet's TV terrors in The Conjuring 2, the Nun's fingers curling round Ed's painting, the disappearing dangling feet in the 2013 original?

It's not just its own franchise that Last Rites pinches things from, either. In the universe's early days, more visually creative creator James Wan, who directed the first two installments, knew how to make us squirm by lingering a little too long on a dimly lit wide shot or deliberately hiding the monsters. This is a much bloodier, louder, in-your-face affair than any of the previous Conjuring flicks, which more closely evokes the likes of Insidious and even Evil Dead. Hell, all the menacing mirror stuff is reminiscent of Mike Flanagan's second-ever feature, Oculus. The result? An energetic, fast-paced outing (its lengthy 135-minute runtime whizzes by), robbed of some of that signature Conjuring style.

Opting for thrills rather than chills gives the sequel a rather odd tone, too, with the "more fun" vibes paving the way for gags, MCU-style cameos, and references that border on self-parody. You'll be pointing to the screen like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme whenever someone says "conduit", "ritualistic practice" or "nothing's a toy, not even the toys". In the same vein, we wouldn't recommend anyone play a drinking game while watching that involves taking a swig every time ol' Annabelle pops up. You won't make it to the end credits.

Family at the forefront

While The Devil Made Me Do It saw the Warrens take a little bit of a backseat, Last Rites takes the criticisms levelled at its predecessor and course corrects, ensuring that all of the film's emotional throughlines stem from the Warren family. (Though that does come at the cost of connecting with the Smurls' plight or getting any context on the motives of its multiple villains).

Turns out, back in 1964, Ed and Lorraine almost suffered an unspeakable tragedy – and this new case is bringing up painful memories from Judy's first few days Earth-side. The now 20-something, a gifted medium like her mother, has been unwillingly tuning into more spiritual horrors of late, which worries Lorraine. Ed (depicted a little too much like a bumbling, backward-looking bloke here), however, is more concerned by her whirlwind relationship with breezy, blonde ex-cop Tony (Ben Hardy). Having acted alongside one another for 13 years now, the easy chemistry between Farmiga and Wilson is palpable; embodying more of a mature, lived-in comfortability than swoon-worthy flirtation. No Elvis-themed serenades this time around. Writers Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, instead, leave the sparkly-eyed romance stuff to Hardy and Tomlinson, who fare decently enough under the imposing shadow of the leads' couple goals.

The movie concludes with some text that spells out what happened to the real-life Ed and Lorraine following the Smurl case, making clear that this'll be the last time we see them on the big screen. Not disastrous but disappointing all the same, The Conjuring 4 is a serviceable sequel that commits the ultimate sin of not being bold or memorable enough for a final chapter – and that's a shame. In religious circles, "Last Rites" also goes by "Commendation of the Dying", the Christian practice of offering prayers and support to ease someone's transition into the afterlife. Guess we had a little too much faith that the Warrens wouldn't go out with a whimper.

The Conjuring: Last Rites releases on September 5. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time, or our guide to some of the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.