Notable Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia
Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Shannon Kook, Steve
Coulter, Kila Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, Tilly Walker, Molly Cartwright, Orion
Smith, Madison Lawlor
Had anyone let me know ahead of time that The Conjuring: Last
Rites was about a haunted fuckin’ mirror, I would have bought my tickets
for opening night instead of waiting for the end of the weekend. Not that a
haunted mirror movie is guaranteed to be awesome by any stretch of the
imagination, but when you have The Warrens going toe-to-toe with a mirror that
looks remarkably like Mike Flanagan’s Oculus, I sure as shit would have
been there Thursday night at the previews.
Sure, the entire idea that the last mainline Conjuring
film would have the delightfully family-focused horror series pitted against a
giant 6-foot-tall gothic mirror seems silly, which, to be fair, it is, but this
series is known for elevating its material above its schlocky 70s haunted house
concepts. And once again, The Conjuring: Last Rites accomplishes that.
This fourth (and final?) entry into the series manages to overcome some serious
landmine-littered ideas and script issues to deliver another round of
love-affirming horror delightfulness while still getting in some intriguing
layering that held me until I could write this review. Fans of the series will
enjoy it enough, even if it doesn’t reach the heights of The Conjuring
or The Conjuring 2, and it puts a nice little period at the end of this“first phase” of the brand.
Once again helmed by Michael Chaves (returning after
delivering middling entries like The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,
The Curse of La Llorona, and The Nun II), Last Rites very
much intends to be the last film of this core series. Tonally, the film follows
suit. The Warrens, once again played with palpable on-screen chemistry by Vera
Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, are semi-retired from the paranormal investigation
game in 1986. Their daughter, Judy Warren, has grown up and is hitching to get
hitched to her big beau, Tony, played by X-Men Apocalype’s Angel, Ben
Hardy. However, one final case in Pennsylvania, which is naturally tied to the
Warrens from an earlier case that almost killed Judy in the womb, and it’s time
for them to face the reflections of the past - fittingly in a demonic fuckin’
mirror.
Retirement, their kid getting married, a ghostly and demonic
force back to kill the family in a hodgepodge cyclical way, and the changing of
the times into a me-focused 80s mindset certainly layer in a ton of intriguing
elements to indicate the transitional period that The Conjuring Universe
finds itself in. In a way, it’s kind of the perfect film to seal the series for
those reasons, even if the final sequence with all of its cameos and montages
about the future comes off as almost too saccharine.
Still, Chaves has managed to learn a lot from his producer,
James Wan. The balance of studio-friendly frights and family-focused heart is
much improved from the last entry, and there is just enough of that layering to
make this one effective. It helps that the main cast is oozing charisma off the
screen. Naturally, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga remain the beating heart of
this series and the reason to watch it since Wan left the director’s chair.
Still, newcomers Mia Tomlinson, as Judy, and Ben Hardy as her fiancé, Tony hold
their own aptly and deliver some heartfelt moments of humanity within the
horrors.
As with the previous entries, Last Rites spends its first hour or so jumping between the Warrens and the family that is suffering the most recent case of the “bad haunts,” and there’s some impressive and subtle storytelling happening to make the audience really feel for the other family, the Smurls. Although the leapfrogging between the families will never be as efficient or effective as the original The Conjuring, it still works some serious magic here. It entices its audience to give a shit about whether or not The Warrens manage to dispel the film’s ghostly villains.
It’s the villains, three grinning ghosts that bring to mind
the home video artwork from a video store staple called Satan’s Little
Helper, that make some formidable foes. Manifested by this massive looking
glass, the ghosts get to punctuate the film’s scares with their toothy grins
and violent tactics. Whether playing with dolls, levitating sleeping family
members, or flooding the basement with a literal blood bath (provided by a
fantastic axe to the head jump scare), there’s some fun to be had with the
spooks in this film. It’s almost a shame that the film feels obligated to stuff
in an Annabelle scare or two into the plot, more or less calling back to the
previous entry, Annabelle Come Home, but hey, I’m not complaining too
much. If anything, it's the finale that feels perhaps the most forced as the
family comes face-to-face with the actual mirror. It allows the film to hit
some nice visual moments that hammer home its themes about reflection, facing
one's fears, and ending cycles (the mirror literally spins around, which
elicited a solid laugh from me in the theater). It’s not the best of the series
in its horror, but it’s solid enough and well-crafted enough that it makes for
a good time to watch.
Considering that The Conjuring: Last Rites is now
setting box office records for horror films, it’s hard to believe that this is
the last time we will see The Warrens and their investigative hijinks, but if
it is, then Last Rites manages to cap off the series with a delightful
entry that improves on the last one. It’s got enough spooks and kooks to
warrant the watch for fans and even those new to the series will find its
balance between heart and horror to be still rock solid.
So until next time, fictional Warrens, rest in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment