ONE LAST TRICK

THE WARRENS SUMMON UP THEIR FINAL FRIGHTS IN THE CONJURING: LAST RITES

- WORDS: ROBBIE DUNLOP

TWELVE YEARS AFTER taking on the roles of legendary ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return for one last stand against the paranormal in The Conjuring: Last Rites.

For director Michael Chaves, previously at the helm of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, as well as spinoffs The Curse Of La Llorona and The Nun II, bidding farewell to the blockbuster horror franchise has been bittersweet. “Endings are always tough,” he tells SFX, admitting he would have happily kept making Conjuring films “until the end of time”.

“I love working with everyone involved,” he continues, “but there was a shared sense” from creator James Wan to the producers at New Line Cinema - “that it was time to end on a high. You want to stop at the peak. You don't want to be the one who runs a franchise into the ground. This was a rare opportunity to choose when and how to tell that final chapter.”

From the outset, Chaves says he felt a responsibility not just to honour the real-life legacy of the Warrens, but to deliver the most satisfying possible ending for the fans who've followed their cinematic journey. “I speak as someone who really loves the series and is fortunate enough to be a part of it, but especially as someone who completely fell in love with the first film. I really wanted to bring back that big Conjuring experience: that back-to-basics haunted house movie. To go out in that style.”

There's always a temptation to pull out all the stops and go, as Chaves puts it, “dangerously big”.

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