Invocação do Mal 4: O Último Ritual

I went into this flick hoping for a grand send-off. What I got was a limp, recycled mess that felt more like a bad spin-off than the franchise's finale. The setup had promise, but the movie just dragged until the halfway point. By then, I'd already checked my watch 2 times.

The screenplay? Paper thin. Characters exist just to be spooked, and the scares are predictable jump-outs you can see a mile away. There's no tension, no atmosphere, just loud bangs and cheap tricks. At this point, you can practically set a stopwatch to when the next door will slam.

And then there's Michael Chaves. Let's be real-this isn't his first stumble. La Llorona was weak. The Devil Made Me Do It barely felt like a horror movie. The Nun II was a snooze. And now here we are again, same bag of empty tricks. He confuses loud noises for scares and speed bumps for suspense. If James Wan built this house of horror with care, Chaves has turned it into a carnival ride running out of batteries.

Who in their right mind thought that hey let's give the guy who delivered 3 trashes in a row another story to butcher? Perfect for a franchise closer.

Sure, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga do their best, as always. Their chemistry still works, but they can't carry a whole movie on their backs. A "heartfelt farewell" means nothing when the movie itself can't even scare a nervous teenager in a dark theater.

The conjuring and the conjuring 2 remain some of the best horror films within the last 15 years for my taste. Some would even say the conjuring is one of the top horror films of all time. WAN found his niche within his created conjuring universe with the likes of these films, insidious, and all of the other spin offs. With this has come quite a few more filler movies from other directors that are much less experienced aside from (Whannell) at the helm. Michael Chaves is not a bad director by any means, but this simply does not hold a candle to the first two films or even the last one which was actually decently solid. This one just feels like the most uninteresting of the four and while it has a few decent demonic scares and visuals, it simply does not serve that much of a purpose other than a supposed ending. I actually do not think this will be truly the last of the conjuring films either, though I think it should've ended after the last one. I can think of at least three other films within the universe that aren't even great by any means, but are still more interesting than this. Annabelle Creation, The Nun, and even insidious 4 are all more effective . That's not to say this doesn't have a few redeeming qualities if you're a fan, but if it really was the end, Wan should've ended the Warren's story ...

I went in with high expectations, but this final film turned out to be a letdown. The story isn't very powerful-it feels more like an extended family drama than a true Conjuring movie. What disappointed me most was that the focus shifted away from Ed and Lorraine, the heart of the franchise.

The scares rely too much on jump scares, loud noises, and crude tricks to shock the audience. They startle, but they don't deliver the bone-chilling fear that earlier Conjuring films are known for.

It's not a total waste of money or time, but as the last chapter of such a beloved franchise, it feels like a weak wrap-up. I left the theater more sorry than satisfied.

I just left the cinema, and there's a lot to share. Conjuring: The Last Rite opens really strong-the beginning and build-up are amazing, with a solid story foundation that pulls you in right away. Unfortunately, the ending didn't land for me. The tension and scares were there in parts, but they never fully hit the level I was hoping for. Compared to the first movie, which is still the best in the series for me, this one falls a bit short in delivering lasting chills.

That being said, the cast was great-the actors really carried their roles well and gave strong performances. Overall, it's worth watching if you're a fan of the franchise, but the payoff at the end just didn't match the promise of its opening.

I watched this in IMAX, so of course my expectations were pretty high for The Conjuring: The Last Rites. Maybe I set the bar a little too high, but honestly it didn't disappoint me.

What I liked:

• Solid emotional build-up.

• A satisfying ending.

• A few scenes actually made me flinch.

What didn't work for me:

• Way too predictable (though, to be fair, the Conjuring formula is easy to guess).

• A slow burn at the beginning.

• The music didn't feel scary enough.

• The ending felt a bit rushed.