What was intended to be a triumphant sendoff to Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren’s (Vera Farmiga) blockbuster paranormal investigations, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” misses the mark with subpar jumpscares and a notable lack of the successful tension-building for which the franchise became critically acclaimed.

A majority of the film is not scary, including the main demonic entity tormenting the Warrens and the Smurls — a Pennsylvania family that came into possession of a mirror inhabited by that same entity. 

Like the other films in the franchise, “Last Rites” is based on a real case that Ed and Lorraine investigated, while taking many creative liberties. However, these narrative deviations from the true story hardly instill fear into the audience.

One aspect of the “Conjuring” films that is consistently gripping is how fast the stakes are established, with the uncomfortable atmosphere that easily engages the audience instilled within the first 15 minutes.

“Last Rites” seemingly does the opposite, with a lackluster opening scene that flashes back to 1964 to see a young Lorraine (Madison Lawlor) being forced into labor by the demon that would haunt the Smurl family 22 years later. What is supposed to be a high-intensity, suspenseful hook falls flat and solely serves as an over-explained exposition to introduce the Warrens’ daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson).

Additionally, before Ed and Lorraine began investigating the Smurl case, there were too many lines and bits of dialogue about them being retired and no longer working cases. After two or three times of them explaining why they weren’t working, it became annoying and terribly repetitive. 

There is also a birthday party scene for Ed, which is painfully drawn out and serves only to introduce Judy’s boyfriend-turned-fiancé, Tony Spera (Ben Hardy), and feature a handful of character cameos from past films.

One bright side of the film, and probably the best visual effect overall, is a beautifully visceral scene where Dawn Smurl (Beau Gadsdon) begins to vomit her cereal, spewing blood and glass shards all over herself and her family. 

A notable death that was executed properly is that of Father Gordon (Steve Coulter), who is targeted by the demon after trying to involve the Catholic Church in the Smurl family’s paranormal experience. He is influenced to hang himself inside the Diocese of Scranton, which brings an end to a familiar face from the franchise.

His death prompts Judy — and subsequently Ed, Lorraine and Tony — to investigate the Smurl family’s recent paranormal encounters. However, once inside the Smurl house and facing the demon head-on, what should be the most climactic and exciting part of the film ends up not delivering on fear-inducing scenes or effects. 

For some reason, Annabelle returns to attack Judy for less than two minutes before the doll suddenly and inexplicably disappears. It’s never explained why or how the doll was able to manifest herself outside of the case that housed her inside of the Warrens’ residence, and it feels like a cheap tactic to insert a horror icon into a lackluster film that lacked identity.

The main antagonist was a demon that looks like an old woman with a snarled smile and creepy eyes, which is anything but original. The demon also isn’t named, which is a missed opportunity to create a frightening and potentially iconic character. The “Conjuring” franchise features tons of iconic, monstrous demons, like Annabelle and Valak, so not naming the demon in the final film is a disappointment.

What is most confusing about this movie is how incapable Judy is of helping the other characters fight the demon throughout the film until the last ten minutes. Judy canonically defeats Annabelle when she is only 10 years old in “Annabelle Comes Home” (2019), but in “Last Rites,” she hardly puts up a fight against any paranormal threat. The writers’ choice to nerf her character is beyond frustrating.

For a tremendously iconic franchise, this final installment is so dispiriting. It exchanges entertaining scares for lukewarm character development and dialogue — not what an audience wants from a horror film. Regardless, it’s heartwarming to see Ed and Lorraine being portrayed on the silver screen one last time, but it may be more worthwhile for audiences to rewatch “The Conjuring” (2013) for a complete horror experience.