Vera Farmiga Archives | Otaku No Culture

The Conjuring Last Rites is Hardly a Finale. It’s More Like The Passing of the Torch.

All The Conjuring Last Rites does is to lean heavily on callbacks to earlier films. While Judy Warren’s expanded role adds some novelty, the result feels more like a greatest-hits package than a true conclusion.

The Conjuring Last Rites may mark the end of the franchise on the big screen, but HBO Max’s TV series to continue the story will keep the Warrens alive. Just this week, the streamer announced Nancy Won as showrunner, with Peter Cameron and Cameron Squires joining the writer’s room. While Ed and Lorraine Warren claimed to have investigated countless cases, only the most sensational ones ever made it to theatres—often as overblown, fictionalized spectacles. What’s missing are the controversies surrounding the couple’s methods and credibility, which can take the franchise to a level other films never explore.

At the heart of this latest film lies a familiar question: who—or what—is the evil that continues to pursue the Warrens? Earlier entries teased a hidden hand behind Annabelle and The Nun, but ultimately the lore hinges on one figure: Valak.

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Guess Who’s Knocking? Annabelle Comes Home

The film ends up being carnival ride of terror that’s more chuckle-worthy than nightmarish. Annabelle deserves better.

Spoiler Alert

The Conjuring spinoff Annabelle Comes Home has the feel of a been there, done that before vibe. It also marks Gary Dauberman, writer of the franchise, directorial debut. While he can nicely up some creepy set pieces, the notion of knowing how to scare the socks off of people needs a lesson by living at Chillingham Castle for a month.

When the doll briefly seen in the main series gets a spinoff to explain her origins and we all know it’s possessed by a demonic entity, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) have their work cut out for them. Sadly, that means tracking this porcelain work down and convincing the latest owners it’s best to let them have it so they can protect humanity from it. Wait a minute, isn’t that what Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures fame want to do too?

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Scaring Up the Monsterverse, Godzilla and Ghidorah

This Monsterverse is better off not bringing in divine figureheads into the fore. Hydras and Cerberus yes, but gods from Babylon or Mesoamerican origins, perhaps not.

Godzilla King of the Monsters Hail the Monsterverse Spoiler Alert

The epic showdown I’ve been craving since Legendary Pictures acquired the license to play with Godzilla is here! In part two of maybe a trilogy, the Monsterverse mankind lives in is filled with hidden agendas and a fear for the future. Our time on Earth may well come to an end. The Titans, monsters capable of mass destruction, will reclaim their territory. Can we live side by side in a symbiotic relationship, as Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) hopes? Or as TOHO Studio’s animated take suggests, will civilization regress to simpler times?

No real continuity exists between these two studio’s works. Legendary’s version is limited. Only a handful of films can be made before the terms of the contract expire. With a bigger budget, fans can see a massively CGI driven apocalyptic take of monsters ravaging each other and the world. Practical effects can only go so far, and motion capture can do a lot more these days. As this sequel takes place five years later, the Monarch organization is ready for the inevitable. In what they know and have uncovered since–humanity better be afraid!

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