The Conjuring: Last Rites
gets a new tease from director Michael Chaves and star Vera Farmiga, who hype a coming demon vendetta. After the franchise first got its start back in 2013 with The Conjuring, the horror universe has expanded with numerous sequels and spinoffs, many of which follow Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Farmiga), a husband-and-wife team of paranormal investigators. The Ed and Lorraine saga is now set to come to an end with the release of The Conjuring: Last Rites, which pits the pair against mysterious entities in one last case.
EW now shares a new video promoting the upcoming film, with Chaves and Farmiga taking viewers behind-the-scenes of The Conjuring: Last Rites. In the video, Chaves hypes the Smurl case as “the darkest thing we’ve ever seen in the series.” Franchise producer Peter Safran then discusses where Ed and Lorraine are at in the new installment, revealing that they’re considering leaving their lives as paranormal investigators behind:
“They’re both contemplating hanging it up. Unfortunately, because of their innate goodness, they actually can’t walk away from it.”
Farmiga appears in the video alongside Wilson, sharing that this particular demon’s mission in Last Rites is personal:
“This demon has a vendetta, and what it wants is very, very personal.”
What This Means For The Conjuring 4
Can It Redeem The Response To The Devil Made Me Do It?
As the last installment in the main Conjuring saga, there’s a lot of pressure on Last Rites to deliver. The comments above confirm that the creative team has taken the threat to an extreme level for Ed and Lorraine this time, setting the paranormal investigators up to go out with a bang. Whether the dark Smurl case and the demon’s personal vendetta is enough to bring the franchise back to its successful roots, however, remains to be seen.
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The Conjuring Movies’ Rotten Tomatoes Scores |
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|---|---|---|
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Title |
RT Critics’ Score |
RT Popcornmeter |
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The Conjuring |
86% |
83% |
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The Conjuring 2 |
80% |
82% |
|
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It |
56% |
83% |
As seen in the chart above, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), the third installment, experienced a fairly severe dip with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Both of the original two movies were well-received critically, but the third movie was criticized for feeling like a retread of familiar ideas, offering scares but falling short when it comes to the human elements of the story. Most of the spinoffs have also earned mixed or negative reviews, meaning Last Rites has an opportunity to get the franchise back on track critically.
Our Take On The New Teases For The Conjuring: Last Rites
Ed & Lorraine Deserve A Proper Sendoff
The teaser trailer that was recently released, which is included above, teases the return of many classic elements from the franchise’s past as Ed and Lorraine’s story comes full circle. Nostalgia can be an effective way to create emotion and excitement for audiences, but Last Rites will hopefully tell a compelling new story, standing on its own two feet as an effective conclusion to a saga that has now been running for more than a decade.
The characters of Ed and Lorraine Warren are based on a real-life team of paranormal investigators.
One thing horror movies can sometimes struggle with is crafting characters that audiences actually care about. Ed and Lorraine have emerged as two of the most memorable protagonists in the genre, and their relationship and the struggles they face have been compelling to follow, even if The Devil Made Me Do It fell short in some respects. It remains to be seen whether The Conjuring: Last Rites will end Ed and Lorraine’s saga on a high note, but audiences can evidently expect a major demonic threat in the upcoming installment.
Source: EW