The Conjuring: Last Rites (in theaters)

The scares aren’t the real reason to watch “The Conjuring” movies.

There are scares in the series, but they’re all a specific flavor of haunted-object scare that doesn’t appeal to everyone. “The Conjuring: Last Rites” continues that tradition, this time sticking firmly to the moving furniture and unstable floors of a haunted house (in this case, the Smurl haunting in 1986 Pennsylvania). They’re among the better the series has offered, at least until a too-referential ending, but it’s all still very familiar.

The real reason to watch “The Conjuring” movies, especially this latest entry, is Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren. The duo’s devotion to each other has always been clear, no matter what’s flying through the air, and that bond gives this movie the weight it needs. It’s the last movie in “phase one” of the series, and Wilson and Farmiga make us feel all the strain their years of ghost- and demon-fighting have put on them. Even when what’s happening onscreen doesn’t scare you, you still worry for them.

Since this is possibly the last “Conjuring” movie, there are plenty of references to previous movies in the series (both human and otherwise). If you’re a fan it can be quite satisfying, though it gets heavy enough at the end that the movie starts feeling less like a story and more like fanservice. But Wilson and Farmiga keep both audiences and the story grounded, reminding us that it doesn’t really matter what your favorite spook is. In the end, we’re here for the people.

Grade: Two and a half stars

Freaky Tales (HBO Max)

Some movies just try too hard.

That’s definitely the case with “Freaky Tales,” which radiates desperation to be seen as violently zany and cathartic. Though it manages it at times, the overstuffed plot and the too-constant pushing of the theme makes the whole movie more exhausting than enjoyable. Add in a weird, pointless magical realism element and one of the combined storylines that just doesn’t fit with the others, and you have a party that occasionally sparkles but mostly just falls flat.

The movie follows several stories set in Oakland in 1987, most of which involve good people defeating jerks and/or Nazis. Though one of those defeats is musical, they mostly include violent action scenes that show filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Marvel history. The only story that doesn’t fit this theme is Pedro Pascal’s tale of a hit man trying to get revenge on his boss, a much darker story that throws off the tone of everything else.

And yes, some of it is fun, particularly if you know the real-life stories that inspired them. My favorite is two sweet but scrappy punks (Jack Champion and Ji-young Yoo) defending their territory against a group of Nazis. Normani and Dominique Thorn’s rap victory octopus over a sexist MC (Too Short) is deeply satisfying in its own way.

But the movie doesn’t trust its audience to pick up the theme of underdog victories without Tom Hanks stating it specifically. And the vaguely green glow that supposedly ties everything together is both pointless and never explained, turning it into an annoying distraction every time it’s onscreen.

In this case, at least, less would probably be more.

Grade: Two stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society and the Utah Film Critics Association. Drop her a line at [email protected].