“The Conjuring: Last Rites” was released on Sept. 5. This movie is part of the series of The Conjuring movies. The director, Michael Chaves, does a great job at bringing a ghost story to life. It has the classic fear of a horror movie while also making a great spooky Halloween movie.

The story revolves around paranormal investigators, Ed Warren (played by Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (played by Vera Farmiga), and their daughter Judy Warren (played by Mia Tomlinson), who travel to Pennsylvania to rid a Mirror demon from a family’s home. It begins with Lorraine and Ed, who are investigating a haunting of a mirror in an antique shop, when Lorraine has a vision and goes into labor. From there, the movie skips to 22 years later, where that same mirror resurfaces in a new family’s home in Pennsylvania. The family tries to get rid of the mirror, but is still being haunted by three demons. Meanwhile, Ed and Lorraine, who have previously retired, are convinced by their daughter Judy to help rid the demons of this family’s house. 

I thought that the movie did a great job at making this film very realistic, which in turn made it even more scary. There was a great amount of jump scares that caught me off guard, and the film had a very tense climactic moment, which kept me entertained. The overall themes of good vs. evil, courage, and supernatural are reflected throughout the movie, which makes the ending heartwarming in a way (even though it is a horror movie).

However, the movie still leans back on past tropes that the series has done before. This gave it a less exciting effect because it felt so much less original and more predictable. I think that “The Conjuring’s” common storyline is getting a bit old, and that is reflected in this movie. But to be fair, nothing really ever lives up to the original. It was also a bit lengthy and felt like it took a while to get to the ending, but once the movie got to that point, it was really exciting. 

Overall, while being both scary and exciting, but not the most original, Last Rites was a pretty good movie. All the actors deliver great performances, and the film exposes meaningful themes. I would say that it is a pretty good send-off for fans and viewers of The Conjuring Saga. 

3/5 paws.