The Conjuring: Last Rites: A Surprisingly Standard Entry for a Supposedly Final Outing (4K)

The Film:

"The Conjuring" series has been a somewhat unusual roller coaster ride over the course of its 12-year existence. It started off pretty shaky with a surprisingly dull entry that didn't do much to elicit scares, but came back pretty strong with a sequel that fixed many problems that plagued the original. However, the third film (the poorly-titled "The Devil Made Me Do It") fell back on the same tired cliches & issues that held back the first entry. Now we come to what is supposedly the final film in the franchise, "The Conjuring: Last Rites," where Ed & Lorraine Warren will once again face the toughest case of their career (Isn't it always?). Will the series be able to go out on a high note, or will this be just another sequel that succumbs to the same problems as before?

As the film opens, we flashback to 1964, where Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) are investigating a haunted mirror, which causes the latter to collapse and go into labor. The baby is stillborn, but miraculously recovers and is given the name Judy. In 1986, we meet the Smurl family, consisting of Jack (Elliot Cowan) & Janet (Rebecca Calder) and their four daughters. After one of the daughters is given the same antique mirror we saw before as a confirmation gift, terrifying things begin happening in their house, including several demon sightings. Their situation becomes major news, which comes to the attention of Judy (Mia Tomlinson), who goes to investigate. She is eventually joined by her parents, who tried to retire, but are convinced by their daughter to help the desperate Smurl family, leading them into yet another dangerous confrontation with malevolent forces.

When it comes to the "Conjuring" films, they've typically followed a fairly standard approach that has spirits bothering a family through demonic sightings & other strange things happening in their houses, which eventually causes the Warrens to come by and help them out. This is usually followed by them experiencing the same occurrences before finally putting a supposed end to the haunting/possession/general creepiness that the evil force has been causing. As previously mentioned, some of these outings have been more successful than others, with the second film being one of those rare standouts that manages to surpass the original with better developed characters, improved scares, and a far more compelling story to go along with them. This made it all the more disappointing when the third film failed to live up to it by returning to a blander approach and a much less intriguing narrative.

For this final outing, it's fair to say that it's a step up from the previous entry as it does at least try to give us a more compelling tale to go along with the usual procedural approach that has come to define these films, but at the end of these prolonged 135 minutes, it just doesn't offer much of anything new. This leaves us with another surprisingly standard sequel in the series, which is indeed surprising given that it's meant to be the final entry, one for which you'd think they'd pull out all the stops for. You do have to give them slight credit for providing a slight chuckle during its hectic climax though, for the audience probably wasn't expecting the Warrens to have to take on the evil mirror directly, so if they are truly bringing it to an end, it was nice of them to give it some levity to go out on.

In the end, "The Conjuring: Last Rites" certainly does make some improvements over the previous outing by giving us a slightly more engaging story and even getting the Warrens' daughter involved, but sadly it's not able to get back to the higher level of quality achieved by "The Conjuring 2," which remains the best film in the series. It would've been nice if they had tried to do something a little different for the big finale here, but with it utilizing the same standard approach, it basically becomes a rather middling entry, though, at the very least, it does ultimately send the series off in a mildly upward direction.

Video/Audio:

"The Conjuring: Last Rites" comes to 4K in a 2.39:1 & 1.78:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of outstanding quality. This is yet another example of a horror flick that has a multitude of dark scenes, but the picture always remains perfectly sharp & clear throughout its entire 135-minute duration. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a marvelous job in both departments for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

Last Rites: An Era Ends (9 Minutes): A featurette that primarily has James Wan, Patrick Wilson, and Vera Farmiga reminiscing about the series.

The Conjuring: Crafting Scares (9 Minutes): As the title implies, this is a featurette that focuses on how the filmmakers developed the film's creepy elements.

Michael Chaves: Believer (7 Minutes): A featurette that focuses on the director.

Conclusion:

"The Conjuring: Last Rites" makes some improvements upon the previous disappointing entry in the series by providing a slightly more compelling narrative that throws the Warrens' daughter into the mix, but sadly it sticks rather firmly to the all-too-familiar structure of the other entries in the series and doesn't really dare to do anything new or different, ultimately making this supposedly final entry a surprisingly standard outing.

Score: 3/5

Available on 4K starting tomorrow.

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