The first film in this horror series came out relatively strong in 2013. Directed by the talented James Wan, it gave us our pair of married ghost chasers, Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively), and a genuinely creepy haunted house scenario, in which spiritualist Lorraine had to tap into the evil goings-on in a way that felt properly visceral.
In subsequent sequels, of which there have now been three directly, plus a pair of related horror flicks involving the demonically possessed doll, Annabelle, the formula became more firmly established: The couple would venture into a demonic situation being suffered by some innocent family, they would worry about each other a great deal, and despite the best efforts of the creeping evil all around them, their love (and gumption) would prevail.
The conceit of the series is that the films are based on the real-life case files of the Warrens, who documented their encounters via various tape and video recordings (clips of which were often shown during the closing credits to suitably chilling effect). In theory, this has always added a bit of heft to the otherwise pretty flimsy goings-on, though by now, so much of the Warrens’ “accounts” have been thoroughly debunked — including supposed paranormal doozies like the Amityville haunting — it’s pretty much impossible not to take all of these films without a boulder of salt.
Instead, the films have given us little more than the hagiography of the Warrens, as partners and purveyors of spiritual maladies. They might well have been wonderful people (Ed died back in 2006 and Lorraine in 2019), but as far as their cinematic counterparts are concerned they are virtuous as saints and the very embodiment of loyal, loving partners.
This film — for now, considered the last in the series, though the producers have laid enough breadcrumbs for a next-gen version if the need arises — plays like a greatest hits package. Spooky mirrors sporting evil, grinning reflections of the viewer; baby dolls that crawl around and levitate in the air for no given reason; gnarled hands appearing over unsuspecting shoulders, et al.
Under the mostly listless direction of series steward Michael Chaves, working from a ham-handed script by a cadre of Hollywood screen writers, very few pentagrams go unturned. If you see the aforementioned doll crawling on the floor calling for its mama, you can bet the house and kids on the fact that it will make a further appearance in even creepier mode somewhere down the line.
The house in possession is situated in a small coal-mining town outside of Pittsburgh (with typical subtlety, shown on a small, cramped street with a giant steel mill looming in the background, belching smoke and iron ore up into the atmosphere — at one point using a drone shot high above the ravaged area, Chaves has the town look like a vision of Mordor with the refinery as Mount Doom).
There, a bustling family, led by matriarch Janet Smurl (Rebecca Calder), is experiencing horrible goings-on after the live-in grandparents unsuspectingly buy the haunted mirror in question and give it to their just confirmed granddaughter (Kila Lord Cassidy).
Eventually, the Warrens are enticed back from retirement to intervene on behalf of the beleaguered Smurls, only now their twenty-something daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson), newly engaged to strapping beau Tony (Ben Hardy) is also in on the fun.
Or at least what passes for “fun” in this largely torpid exhibit. Virtually nothing happens you can’t predict with eerie accuracy (any time a character looks beatifically happy, they are about to receive a transmission from Satan’s abyss), and Ed, with his weakened heart (a subplot the film pays much attention to that goes absolutely nowhere), and a mostly checked-out Lorraine, don’t even appear to be terribly engaged with this newest manifestation of ultimate evil.
The usual sorts of things happen, Ed and Lorraine prove yet again how devoted they are to one another, and everything is safely locked up in the Warrens’ basement chamber of horrors at the end. The film’s end intimates the rest of the Warren’s beatific lives together, dancing at Judy and Tony’s wedding, and embracing a barrage of friends and grandkids at holiday get-togethers over the years.
Apparently, we can infer the spirit world harbors no grudges against the couple — surprisingly, given demons’ seeming penchant for bitter reprisals — and we can all move on with our lives at last. Though, given the film’s strong opening weekend at the box office, we might have to wait and see what the devils executives at New Line have in store for them next.
