The Conjuring: Last Rites

Mr. Pat

13 minutes ago

5 min read

The other day I asked some of my coworkers what their favorite scary movie was, and what did they say? *Makes scrunchy face and speaks in a mocking tone* "I don't watch scary movies!"

Gah! I've worked in five different newsrooms, and I've had a horror movie friend in one of them! How disappointing is that?! I asked them because I wanted something scary, and because they couldn't help, I went to, scare for scare, probably the most consistent franchise...

The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

Nothing has changed the way I watch entertainment more than having kids. I watched "Game of Thrones" when it was good, and had no problem with the violence. Then I decided to watch it again shortly before the terrible final season, and the scene where they killed Robert's bastards gutted me, as I had President Baby napping in his crib. The latest in the Conjuring series starts with Lorraine going into labor early after an encounter with a baddie. I was wrecked when the baby came out as a stillborn. It's an extremely raw scene as everyone looks on heartbroken, as Lorraine demands to hold her lifeless baby and then loudly prays for God to bring her back. I'll be honest, I shed a tear or two when the baby finally cried. I'm a wuss when it comes to babies, and it's such a well-acted scene that I couldn't help it. But I digress.

You know what? I realized something the other day. I have really liked a lot of the movies I've watched this month. Per total Dr. Chainsaws, this may be my highest-rated month since I started this. There is one downside to this year, though. While the movies have been good to great, I haven't really been scared. At least once a year I have one movie that really gets under my skin, but this year hasn't really done it for me. The Conjuring gets ragged on in certain corners of the internet as "normie horror," or any discussion of the movies devolves into the backlash against the real-life Warrens. Say what you want about this cinematic universe, the movies that actually star Ed and Lorraine have some good scares and are genuinely frightening, especially the first one.

As for Last Rites, it's the scariest movie I've seen this month, by a decent margin; but it didn't quite scratch that itch I was hoping it would. Although it did manage to make me jump multiple times and had tense moments where nothing was happening, the sense of dread was so thick and the anticipation for something to jump out and go "BOO" had me fidgeting while sitting on the couch.

So the movie starts with the Warrens on a very early case involving a mirror, when Lorraine goes into labor while touching the glass, leading to the scene I talked about earlier. We fast-forward decades, and the mirror ends up in the home of a large family and then immediately starts causing problems. Including making one of the daughters vomit up blood and glass after they tried throwing the mirror away; seeing her spit out the chunks of glass after a geyser of blood spews from her mouth was the most difficult scene to watch out of all the movies I've seen this month.

Daughter Judy in The Conjuring: Last Rites

Meanwhile, the Warrens are retired because Ed has a bad heart and another encounter with a demon could kill him. We learn their daughter, Judy, also has her mother's psychic abilities, and as she's getting older, they're getting more intrusive, and despite her and her mom's attempts to suppress those powers, something is coming for her, and it won't be denied. Judy eventually has some visions of the family from earlier and then goes off to investigate, and when her parents find out, they come to get her, bringing everyone together in one place. Now, because the Warrens can't let a family suffer, they agree to help, bad heart be damned. During their investigation, they discover the mirror, and they realize that the thing they ran from 22 years ago has managed to bring them back so it can finish the job.

I'm a little torn. This is the last movie with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the Warrens, and I think it was a fitting end. Especially the final scene where characters from the past movies show up for cameos. While it was a satisfying end and wraps up the pair, it makes me sad. I love those two in their roles. They have such good chemistry together, and the characters are so good. I love how they're deeply human; they're not overpowered, they don't have an arsenal of demon-fighting gear and they struggle mightily. What they do have, that keeps them fighting when the odds are stacked against them, is their faith. Their faith in God and faith in each other. It's refreshing to see something out of Hollywood where people of faith aren't evil, stupid or evil and stupid. They're wholesome characters in an unwholesome world.

One thing I need to mention is the doll, Annabelle. She kind of hangs over this movie like the Sword of Damocles. Despite her being locked up in the case the entire time, she shows up at different points to be foreboding. It's clear they're setting up her return sometime in the future, but she's never sat right with me. The doll in real life is a Raggedy Ann doll, not the already scary-looking doll used in the movie. Personally, I think the normal doll is scarier, and this movie is proof of that. The scariest part of Last Rites is this plastic doll that can crawl. The doll looks perfectly normal and never makes a spooky face, but it somehow always manages to crawl and say "Mama" at the worst possible times, and it's a legitimately terrifying moment when the thing stands up on its own. Sometimes, less is more. This doll was way creepier than Annabelle, and it looked like just another doll.

In short, not every franchise gets to end in a satisfying way. My big three have been rebooted: Jason, Freddy & Michael, while Mr. Myers has been rebooted three times. As much as I love Wilson and Farmiga, I don't think they could get a better sendoff. Their story wrapped up, we got a glimpse into their future, and they went out on top. The characters deserve their happy ending, and while I'm sad to see them go, the time was probably right for it.