Michael Chaves’ horror blockbuster The Conjuring: Last Rites has been wildly profitable, but it could have gone down as one of the best modern horror movies if it simply followed through on the dark ending it set up. The Conjuring: Last Rites has broken multiple box office records in its run through September 2025, so the movie lauded as the final chapter for the Warrens clearly landed with audiences.

The first three movies in the franchise featured Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) acting as paranormal gunslingers, finding themselves called into battle against different demonic entities and dispatching them before moving on. The buck finally stopped with The Conjuring: Last Rites, as the demon they dealt with is one that had plagued their family since their daughter’s birth.

The more personal connection between the demon and their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) was the central conflict in the movie, although it was wrapped around a dramatized retelling of the real Smurl family haunting. Their daughter Judy’s involvement was completely fabricated for the movie, but there was another departure from reality that could have made their ultimate battle against the mirror demon an all-time great horror finale.

The Conjuring: Last Rites Should Have Killed Off Ed Warren

The theatrical ending of The Conjuring: Last Rites saw the Warrens and their new future son-in-law Tony Spera (Ben Hardy) go head-to-head with the enigmatic mirror demon that had plagued both the Smurl family and Judy Warren in recent weeks. The joint psychic power and prayer of Judy and Lorraine ultimately banished the demon, and all four survived the onslaught of the haunted mirror.

The movie (and this phase of The Conjuring series) ends with a bright and beautiful wedding ceremony for Judy and Tony, and a vision of the peaceful life that Ed and Lorraine have ahead of them. It feels somewhat out of place in the series, and while I understand the reason for ending on such a positive note, a superior ending would have seen one of the elder Warrens die.

For two movies, Ed Warren’s weakened heart has acted as a roadblock to the Warrens continuing to pursue paranormal investigation. It certainly was foreshadowed as something that would eventually have a real impact, especially given that it was framed as something caused by a demonic interaction in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Having the demon that has haunted the Warren family for more than 20 years finally take Ed out of the equation would have been an incredible way to prove the sheer power of the demon they were dealing with. As the member of the duo who performed exorcisms, it would have made complete narrative sense for the demon to want Ed dead.

Frustratingly, the movie flirts with that exact scenario. The demon proves its power by attacking the Warrens’ long-time ally Father Gordon, and invades his mind and body in the local diocese’s holy offices to the point that Father Gordon commits suicide. It’s the perfect depiction of just how unusually powerful the mirror demon is, but the impact feels lessened by the fact that it kills a minor character.

They even teased a darker ending at the climax, during which the demon does in fact invoke a cardiac event with Ed. As Lorraine confronts the Axe Man entity in the Smurls’ basement, Ed suffers upstairs, but inexplicably recovers and regains the strength to withstand the demon’s final assault with the mirror.

It would have been a great send-off for the character of Ed Warren, even if it doesn’t actually align with what happened to the real Ed Warren in later life. It also would have made Judy and Lorraine battling the demon together that much more powerful, as they work to not only save Judy but to avenge Ed.

A Darker Ending Could Have Set Up The Franchise’s Future Even Better

No matter what you thought of the ending, The Conjuring: Last Rites accomplishes its two key goals: it finishes the narrative surrounding Ed and Lorraine Warren, and it sets up the franchise’s future with Judy Warren and her husband Tony. In reality, Judy Warren and Tony continued in Ed and Lorraine Warren’s footsteps, and still work as paranormal investigators in some capacities.

It would be easy enough to have Judy and Tony step into the roles of Ed and Lorraine and keep right on rolling with The Conjuring series in its current form, running through dramatized and exaggerated versions of the real case files of the Warrens. However, by having a demon kill Ed, you further justify and provide motivation for Judy and Tony’s pursuit of demons in the world.

As beautiful as the wedding ending was in The Conjuring: Last Rites, it would have had so much more significance if, instead of Ed walking Judy down the aisle, Lorraine was forced to because Ed wasn’t with them. It’s a much, much darker conclusion to the Warrens’ story, and it obviously would have gone against the reality that the franchise has loosely kept a grip on over the four movie.

The creators of The Conjuring movies have proven that they have no issues diverging from the historical record for the sake of cinema. In fact, the very notion of the Warrens as heroic paranormal investigators is considered laughable in some circles, as there are many who believe the Warrens to be charlatans and con artists, taking advantage of desperate people.

Throwing a complete curveball by having Ed die at the hands of a demon would have been a worthy departure from reality, and given the widely celebrated series an appropriately dark and grim conclusion. The Conjuring: Last Rites would have acted as a much better jumping-off point for the next set of movies, which is all but guaranteed given Last Rites‘ incredible $400+ million box office return.

Release Date

September 5, 2025

Runtime

135 Minutes

Director

Michael Chaves

Writers

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Ian B. Goldberg, Richard Naing, Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, James Wan