(Photo Credit: Alon Amir)
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(“The Conjuring: Last Rites” trailer courtesy of Warner Bros.)
Webster’s defines conjuring as the practice of magic.
Additionally, Webster’s defines it as to cause to appear, etc., as by magic.
However, the definition of “The Conjuring: Last Rites” should be spine-tingling, meaning it sends chills up one’s spine, and compelling, meaning it is extremely interesting.
Around September and October, horror films seemingly become much more popular among moviegoers than during other times of the year.
But there is something about the fall season, especially as the calendar approaches Halloween, that makes horror films that much more terrifying.
Unfortunately, horror films often follow a similar script with creepy dolls and haunted houses.
Furthermore, horror movie franchises might have an even harder time resonating because what more can filmmakers do to keep their franchises fresh?
Thankfully, “The Conjuring: List Rites” does not need to worry about any of the aforementioned pitfalls because it is very good, to say the least.
Religious folks often say that God is the Alpha and the Omega or the beginning and the end.
But every soul has an alpha and an omega also.
Furthermore, a person’s beginning and end are not just their birth date and their death date.
But people also have a beginning and an end for their endeavors, like school, work or relationships.
Likewise, married couple and paranormal experts Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) have an origin story too.
In April 1964, the couple, expecting their first child, worked their first paranormal case when a father began hearing voices in his home.
Initially, his daughter chalked up the alleged voices to old age.
But then she started feeling evil spirits in the home, too.
In “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” Lorraine quickly realizes that the evil spirit lives in an antique mirror in the family’s home.
But when she tries to contact that evil spirit, the unborn child in her stomach becomes affected by the demonic entity.
Lorraine is rushed to the hospital.
Unfortunately, every parent’s worst nightmare comes to fruition for the young couple and their daughter, Judy.
Despite trials and tribulations, people must keep living no matter how hard it gets.
Therefore, Lorraine and Ed continue working in the paranormal space despite their troubles.
But as the decades turn to the 1980s, the couple is doing more college lecturing than doing exorcisms in anticipation of their exit strategy or end date for paranormal activity and exorcisms.
Even when they attempt to do a lecture, though, college students of the 1980s are more concerned with the movie “Ghostbusters” than real ghost busters.
But it does not really matter if college students take demons seriously.
That does not make them fake or phony.
If a person believes in God, then they believe in the devil, also.
Therefore, if a person believes in angelic forces, they believe in demonic forces too.
The questions are which forces will a person serve and how will one deal with them when an adversarial force takes over?
Outside of Pittsburgh, the Smurl family has dedicated their lives to those angelic forces.
The family members are devout Catholics, and they have a confirmation that they are preparing for.
The Smurls do not have much money.
But what they do not have in financial resources, they make up for with love and togetherness.
Three generations (eight people total) live under one roof.
And three generations support each other, even if there is the normal rowdiness with young children and sibling rivalries amongst teenagers.
What gets on the nerves of the teenage Smurls is the lack of bathrooms and mirrors for a house with so many occupants.
Therefore, when one of the family members gets confirmed at the local Catholic church, her grandparents buy her an old antique mirror from a thrift shop.
But almost immediately, strange things begin happening in the Smurl household.
First, the youngsters see the strange happenings.
And then the older members of the family begin seeing and experiencing the demonic.
Many families would just pack up and abandon the home.
But three generations of one family do not live in one modest home for the heck of it.
They simply cannot afford to move.
As a matter of fact, they cannot even afford to stay in a motel with eight people.
Therefore, they must rely on the benevolence of others if they are going to defeat the demon doing damage to their dwelling.
The Smurls even do media interviews in hopes of inspiring some benevolent people to rescue them from their torment.
And that benevolence, obviously, comes from Ed and Lorraine.
The Smurls make the right call.
And “The Conjuring: Last Rites” almost makes all the right calls for a superb horror film.
Filmmakers do not get the horror aspects wrong.
They just get some of the period piece elements wrong.
Most of the film takes place in 1986.
The cars look like 1986.
The technology looks like 1986 with VHS tapes and camcorders.
The news footage looks like 1986.
Eyeglasses look like the ones worn by many in 1986.
And the hairstyles for most of the actors look like 1986, with one exception.
Although most of the scenes take place in 1986, the African-American characters have modern hairstyles, while their counterparts from other cultures have hairstyles from past decades.
It would have looked better if some of the African-American characters had a popular hairstyle amongst young African-Americans during the 1980s, like the Jheri curl.
However, great horror films are not defined by their hairstyles.
They are defined by the terror that they induce.
And “The Conjuring: The Last Rites” definitely meets the definition of a nearly great horror movie.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
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