The Warren's Cinematic Saga Comes to a Close With 'The Conjuring: Last Rites'
By Alivia Stonier
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The Conjuring: Last Rites, released on September 5th, 2025, and directed by Michael Chaves, marks the end of a beloved cinematic universe spanning nine movies and over a decade. The final installment is not only full of fun thrills and chilling visuals but also acts as a beautiful homage, fronted by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, to the Warren family and the adventures they faced together.
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Ed and Lorraine Warren were a married couple based in Connecticut who also doubled as paranormal investigators and authors. Their endeavors began with sketching portraits of haunting houses to gain access to houses to investigate. Their ultimate goal became to assist those in need of intervention from spirits, especially more dangerous alleged entities.
The pair’s career would go on to span upwards of 10,000 investigations and a developed interest in what they called demonology, which can be defined as “the study of demons, which can take place within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism.” Many of their major cases took place across the 1970s, including the infamous case of the Perron family and, later, other notable stories such as Amityville and the Snedeker house.
However, one case that they claim almost split the family apart was the haunting at the Smurl House. Ed and Lorraine had paused paranormal investigation for quite a few years to instead focus on bringing their work to colleges and universities to spread their knowledge and experiences with the afterlife. Much of this was due to Ed Warren's heart issues and the risks that came with continuing to do stressful work under the restraints of his health.
Despite their attempts to stay away from the investigating world, when the case came to them of Jack and Janet Smurl in Pennsylvania and their claims of being tormented by a demon within their home, the family felt pulled to help.
The film opens with a pregnant Lorraine who does not hesitate to still push her investigation to the limits despite the risks that it can pose, and this prioritization of getting to the bottom of cases would ring true across not only the entire franchise but especially this film.
One element that the project captures is the length that this family was willing to go to, even at the expense of their own well-being or safety at times. The pair truly dedicated their lives to this topic, even when they paused their own investigations.
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The series does a beautiful job of showing the heart and desire to help people that appeared to be at the core of this family, especially as the final film shows Lorraine's connection with her daughter and their shared ability to sense things beyond this realm through claims of clairvoyance and being a trance medium.
In this particular case, the family alleged that a demon was not only causing foul odors and strange activity like shaking the beds but actually physically harming family members, including pushing one of the daughters down the stairs and slamming the family dog against a wall. Ed Warren went on to claim that the demon was very resistant to their religious attempts to remove the presence. It certainly proved to be one of their more difficult hauntings.
Beyond the case itself, it's undeniable that the Warrens had many detractors and skeptics who also plagued their career, with The Devil On Trial on Netflix being one example of the way that their cases may have a more scientific explanation. Amid concern for their availability to gain publicity, these movies show the importance of helping one another when in difficult times, and also understanding pain that can be passed down through a generation with the shared difficulties of Lorraine and her daughter Judy Spera.
Not to mention the focus on the marriage between Ed and Lorraine Warren, as Lorraine never remarried after losing Ed, and their love for each other truly remained until death did them part. The cinematic universe of these films expanded from horror into films of hope and light in the darkness.
There were also some very personal, accurate details, including chickens running around their home, which they were known for having a coop for, and some appearances from family friends within the film.
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Despite no longer being alive, their legacy has been able to live on even outside of the films, as the couple founded the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), the oldest ghost-hunting group in the area. Their house and the archive of haunted objects that they also kept stored for safety have also been major topics, as comedian Matt Rife has gained ownership of the collection, including the infamous Annabelle doll.
Their daughter Judy and her husband Tony Spera have helped to continue some of their work; despite Judy not developing her abilities to a high degree because she has discussed an aversion to wanting to dig deep into the paranormal world, they would go on to help continue the lecturing around schools and currently run NESPR.
It's clear to see that their impact has left a mark on the paranormal community, despite a very polarizing presence across the decades their work spanned. To this day, visitors can investigate the Perron family home for themselves, and popular online figures like Sam and Colby have kept some of their legacy alive through repetitive investigation.
While the film offers some chilling scares, including floating dolls, eerily painted faces, and haunting visuals like a room full of mirrors, what can truly stick with people is the way that the Warren legacy was able to quell the anxiety of countless everyday people who truly felt tormented by an activity they believed to be experiencing in their home.
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No matter what viewers believe spiritually and about the credibility of the Warrens, a true strong point of this final haunting being showcased was allowing these investigators to be humanized beyond the glorification of the work that they did and the eyes that it inevitably caused them to get upon their family.
Whether it be the story of a cursed Raggedy Ann doll or even religious figures like a nun, the franchise has been able to offer an incredible range of stories and famous haunted homes that the New England couple was able to explore and will not soon be forgotten by audiences.
