The Conjuring Universe exists because of the brave acts of Ed, Lorraine Warren
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is marketed as the final entry in its universe, but I wouldn’t bet on that. Given that the movie closely draws from one of the most infamous case files of the Warrens, the world’s foremost paranormal investigators, researchers, and demonologists before the rise of today’s modern “ghost hunters,” who primarily film content for reality series programs on television and/or YouTube channels, with little genuine thought for helping victims of hauntings, possessions, and paranormal attacks.
Honestly, what kind of disrespectful YouTuber or streamer would intentionally rile up spirits, insult them, and do everything in their minuscule brainpower to gather evidence of a haunting, a possession, or even demonic activity? All for the sake of gaining subscribers, views, likes, and so on. Then, after collecting enough video and audio evidence, they suddenly leave the family, the poor victims, and those seeking help to deal with the more active, angry, and increased paranormal activity because of their careless actions, meant only to serve their cause without realizing the dangerous long-term consequences of it.
Respect the dead, but more so, respect the living. It is common sense.
Seriously, these are some real a*******! The Warrens were never like that, and that is why The Conjuring films are also necessary to expose all these shady individuals with cameras because even when Ed and Lorraine Warren would gather video and audio evidence and used the existing handheld cameras at the time, they only did these things for documentation and not to brag about it, show it to the world, and upload it online. At the other end of the spectrum, the Warrens were authentic in their cause, and they did their jobs, which they viewed as a calling in life, to the fullest they could. Obviously, without the Warrens, The Conjuring Universe would not have existed because these movies are based on their lives.
The Warrens dedicated practically their entire lives to helping people with the paranormal until the very end. It was only through The Conjuring Universe that the world got to see this dedication displayed by Ed and Lorraine Warren. That is why I believe The Conjuring Universe has not only expanded but endured for so long. Its basis in the real-life investigations (case files) of the Warrens over many decades means the producers and movie studios have countless case files to choose from and, of course, to give them the movie treatment they deserve.
Another reason The Conjuring films resonate with audiences is the actors themselves, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who portray Ed and Lorraine Warren. They convincingly embody their real-life counterparts, showing a genuine desire to free families from their demonic hauntings, possessions, and poltergeist activity at home. Much credit goes to The Conjuring Universe for helping realign the direction of horror toward more refined, sanitized, and tasteful reenactments of real-life cases representing the genre.
All the families depicted in the film entries from The Conjuring Universe are the types of people you can empathize with, and when combined with the eloquent, believable, and down-to-earth performances displayed by Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren, you have all the right casting choices to portray the world’s most famous paranormal couple, who save lives from the unholy.
None of The Conjuring films resort to blatant, tasteless horror full of blood splatter, dead bodies, and frights for the sake of scaring; they prioritize storytelling first, followed by horror tropes. One can observe that after the first Conjuring and in between the sequels and spinoffs, many filmmakers in the horror genre consciously made an effort to pattern themselves to, improve on their work, or at least acknowledge that they could do better, thanks to the bar raised by The Conjuring Universe.
Before The Conjuring Universe started, it felt like everything that could have been done to the genre was accomplished, but who knew that all it took was to take a few steps back and reassess everything to find out that all that was needed was to return to more traditional, tried-and-true, classic filmmaking methods? Yes, you can make it as scary as you want, but you need a solid backbone of storytelling to draw in moviegoers and make them invested. Or else they are wasting their money purchasing tickets to watch a two-hour movie with only a handful of solid jump scares, scream-out-loud moments, and frights, but empty, aimless, soulless storytelling as the downside, which is the all too common case before The first Conjuring movie came out.
In “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” the haunting is set in the mid-’80s, during which some of the most infamous, dangerous, and talked-about hauntings in history happened to be from that decade. At this stage of their professional lives, the Warrens are older but still willing to help as always, because that is one of their mantras in this vocation, which has become a driving force for them to continue doing what they do. To endanger their lives (mind, body, and spirit) again to save another family tormented by demonic spirits is not only a risk for them but also a service for the greater good in banishing evil from those affected by it.
On a little side note, I have seen all the existing interviews, reports, and documentaries I could find about Ed and Lorraine Warren, and besides being very in-depth on what they do and their real-life cases, one thing stood out, and that is they discussed several times that there were many times that they did not think they would be able to get out of it alive, but they still went for it. That speaks to their fearlessness about this. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the Warrens, as millions of other people do, and it is a wonderful gesture to them that another movie has been made to further chronicle their lives as the world’s foremost paranormal investigators, researchers, and demonologists.
Indeed, they may be gone and reunited with God, but their heroic, selfless, and legendary acts are being remembered through movies because, whether they are entirely based on, loosely based, or exaggerated, the whole point here is that they are still derived from their lives.
Which leads me to this: for an official teaser trailer, that felt like a full-length one because it was packed; it had a lot of meat to it, and it is probably the best one I have ever seen from them. So, if the “The Conjuring: Last Rites” teaser was this terrifying, suspenseful, and thrilling, then can you imagine what the actual full-length movie will be like? This is going to be one scary good time for moviegoers and will most likely fittingly end The Conjuring Universe on the most emphatic, impactful, and resounding note possible for all the fans all over the world that this horror franchise has amassed over the decades.
Now, will this be the last time as they have marketed that a movie will be released from The Conjuring Universe? Only time will tell, but the legend of the Warrens lives on, regardless. /ra
