THE CONJURING: LAST RITES is a Victory Lap

THE CONJURING: LAST RITES (Blu-ray)

2025 / 135 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

I never believed for a second that Ed and Lorraine Warren would know a real demon if it walked up, introduced itself and showed them some I.D. Even if their hearts were in the right place - but most likely their wallets - this couple put the ‘con’ in conjuring. 

Still, it’s fun to believe, which the Conjuring franchise has always exploited very effectively, especially with the first two films. Whether or not we buy into the Warrens’ paranormal exploits, what separates these movies from others of their ilk is the great care taken in portraying the couple as likable, sympathetic, sincere and dedicated, to each other and their job. Even as the series began to suffer from the inevitable Law of Diminishing Returns, one thing that remained constant was our affection for the Warrens. 

That affection is more important than ever regarding The Conjuring: Last Rites, which is supposedly the final film in the franchise. It certainly plays like one, assembling a massive collection of tropes, jump-scares, visual effects and ominous signs we’ve long since grown familiar with. These elements may have lost their ability to be truly scary a couple of movies ago, but wouldn’t we miss them if they were absent? Instead of Last Rites, the film could’ve been subtitled Greatest Hits, especially with all the fan service alluding to previous films.

"I dunno, Ed...I can't shake the feeling we're being followed."

But it’s the Warrens (earnestly played once again by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) who keep Last Rites afloat. Director Michael Chaves and his team of screenwriters must have realized that as well, adding now-adult daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) as a primary character (and a pretty good one). Not only is her engagement to boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy) a charming subplot, both of them end up being part of Mom & Dad’s efforts to save the Smurl family from demons unleashed from an old mirror. The movie needs them, too, since there’s almost no effort to make the Smurls much more than a plot device. You could say the same thing about the demons themselves, whose history and intentions are pretty murky.

As a capper to the phenomenally successful Conjuring franchise (yeah, we’ll see), Last Rites is sort of a victory lap. Save for a chilling sequence involving the fate of a kindly priest, the film doesn’t really serve-up anything new and the ultimate outcome is a given. But as a fond cinematic farewell to the beloved Warrens, it works quite nicely. Who cares if their actual legacy is dubious at best?

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Last Rites: An Era Ends looks back at the whole franchise; The Conjuring: Crafting Scenes focuses on the film’s visuals; Michael Chaves: Believer features the film’s director.

DIGITAL COPY

THREE and THREE…EXTREMES: Aptly Named Anthologies

THREE & THREE…EXTREMES (Blu-ray)

2002 & 2004 / 254 min (2 movies)

Arrow Video 

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Three…Extremes was released on this side of the pond in the early 2000s, and I was aware of its reputation. More specifically, I was aware that Takashi Miike was one of the directors of this horror anthology. For those unfamiliar, Miike’s prolific career includes Ichi the Killer, Audition and the nastiest episode of Showtime’s Master of Horror series. So nasty, if fact, that Showtime refused to air it, and after later catching it on DVD, I could see why.

He’s a good director, but the films I’ve seen (those above-mentioned titles) wallow in levels depravity and violence that are tough to endure…and I can generally endure a lot. But the violence isn’t just graphic. The context in which it’s inflicted is what makes it so brutal. So, tail between legs, I took a hard pass on Three…Extremes.

But here we are, 20 years later, and Arrow Video has put it out on Blu-ray, along with the first film, 2002’s Three. And guess what…I was today-years-old when I learned the film I was reluctant to watch two decades ago was a sequel. Actually, that might surprise a lot of people, since Three was only released in the U.S. (as Three…Extremes II) after Three…Extremes made waves here. Not that it matters, since they’re anthology films anyway.

Not knowing what to expect, I put on my big-boy pants and dug in, fully prepared to witness stuff I’ll never unsee…

But Three is a surprisingly subdued and deliberately-paced trio of stories by directors from Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong. In fact, the overall tone is similar to what we now might call ‘elevated horror.’ The first tale, “Memories,” features a man who appears concerned about his missing wife. Concurrently, she awakens in the middle of the street with no idea how she got there, then proceeds to make her way home. There are some effective scenes here and there, but most horror fans will see the twist ending coming from a mile away. “The Wheel” deals with a cursed marionette that wreaks havoc on the man who took it for himself after its original owners died. “Going Home,” is about a cop whose young son goes missing. While searching, he’s taken captive by his reclusive neighbor, who is trying to resurrect his dead wife. There’s more plot here than the story really needs, but it’s the best of the three, with an ironic twist and an intriguingly ambiguous denouement.

Overall, Three is longer than it needs to be, with directors Kim Jee-woon, Peter Chan and Nonzee Mimibutr all guilty of a little self-indulgence. But for the most part, it’s visually interesting, with an emphasis on atmosphere over scares and violent thrills. In fact, it’s damn near bloodless.

You won't find these at a food court.

Conversely, Three…Extremes is aptly named. “Dumplings” is Fruit Chan’s sick and twisted tale of a former actress desperate to stay young. She hires the services of a mysterious dumpling maker whose secret to eternal youth is pretty shocking (to say nothing of stomach churning, thanks to some repellant visuals and sound effects)…and the story is just getting started. In Park Chan-wook’s “Cut,” a film director and his wife are held captive and tortured by one of his former extras, who forces him to make some terrible decisions in order to save her. This one is brutal and bloody, marred by a somewhat silly ending. 

The biggest shock is saved for last, with Takashi Miike’s “Box.” But what’s shocking is that this one is not driven by violence and gore. In fact, it’s an exercise in surrealism about a young woman who has spent her life mourning the twin sister she accidentally killed when they were children. Haunting and atmospheric, this one may disappoint those accustomed to Miike’s more bloodthirsty work, but I really enjoyed the director’s emphasis on mood over logic. As the final story, however, it does end the Three…Extremes rather anti-climactically, at least compared to the visceral viciousness of the first two.

These six stories play more like individual films - complete with their own credits - than part of a whole, and the tone is mostly serious (sometimes almost melancholy). As horror anthologies go, they don’t quite deliver the sense of fun that a Creepshow episode might, but are certainly worth checking out, although Three…Extremes is definitely not for the squeamish. In addition to solid 2K restorations of both films, Arrow has included an good batch of new & archival bonus features. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

THREE

INTERVIEWS - New and archival individual interviews with “Memories” director Kim Jee-woon, “Memories” cinematographer Hong Kyoung-pyo, “Going Home” director Peter Ho-Sun Chan, “Going Home” actor Eugenia Tuan.

MAKING-OF FEATURETTE

TRAILER

THREE…EXTREMES

INTERVIEWS - New and archival individual interviews with producer Peter Ho-Sun Chan, “Box” director Takashi Miike, “Dumplings” director Fruit Chan, “Dumplings” actor Bai Ling.

MAKING-OF FEATURETTES - One for each film.

2 TRAILERS - Three…Extremes; feature length version of Dumplings.

WEAPONS: A Wild, Twisted Ride

WEAPONS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 128 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

I have a feeling that being a Zack Cregger fan is going to be something of a challenge. 

Reviewing his first film, Barbarian, a few years ago, I had the good fortune of knowing absolutely zero about the premise or plot. In addition to being extremely well written and atmospheric, to say nothing of brutal, it repeatedly surprised me with its story turns and dramatic tonal shifts. That unpredictability was a big part of what made it the best horror film of 2022. 

While elevated expectations were probably unavoidable, I did manage to avoid learning anything about Cregger’s Weapons beyond the title and an intriguing trailer that revealed little (the way all of trailers should be). That wasn’t easy because, unlike Barbarian, this one was a blockbuster and all the hype made the internet a virtual minefield. So it was with a sense of victory that my daughters and I bought our tickets over a week into the movie’s theatrical run…

…and not only did Weapons live up to the hype, it surpassed my expectations. Like Barbarian, it’s a wild, original film that's best viewed cold, so consider yourself lucky if you’re able to. Because of this, I’ll avoid revealing the plot in any detail, which begins with the unexplained disappearance of 17 children from a small suburbia. At exactly 2:17 AM, they simply wake up, leave their homes and run off into the night.

When the ice cream truck arrives past curfew.

Obviously, the children' s disappearance is central to the narrative, but the story is no mere mystery. It’s still primarily a horror film - and a pretty brutal one, too - but divided into intersecting chapters, each presented from a specific character’s point of view somewhat akin to Kurosawa’s Rashomon. With each chapter comes unexpected plot or character revelations - some which are shocking - and it all comes together for a memorable climax.

This time around, Cregger infuses his intelligent story with unexpected personal drama and twisted black comedy, the latter of which I suspect some horror purists may not appreciate. But as someone who enjoys my expectations being subverted, I thought it was a great touch. Elsewhere, the story features an ensemble of engaging, believable characters, all well-performed by a great cast (including Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich and Amy Madigan). 

Overall, 2025 has been a pretty damn good year for smart, original horror, with the likes of Sinners, Bring Her Back and now Weapons ranking among the best of them. Here’s hoping Zack Cregger remains this dedicated to unpredictability for the rest of his career, even if it does keep me off the internet for a couple of weeks every few years (which probably ain’t a bad thing)

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Director Zack Cregger: Making Horror Personal; Weaponized: The Cast of Weapons; Weapons: Texture of Terror. Each featurette runs 6-10 minutes, and their titles are more-or-less explanatory.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: 7 FILM COLLECTION: A Fistful of Freddy in 4K

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: 7 FILM COLLECTION (4K UHD)

1984-1994 / 650 min (7 movies)

Warner Bros.

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

I don’t consider the ‘80s to be the “golden age” of horror, as many middle-aged fanboys love to gush. Sure, there were some great ones - as there are from every decade - but most of what was spoonfed to indiscriminate teenagers consisted of assembly line slashers cut from the same cloth as Halloween and Friday the 13th. 

Of those that became beloved franchises, the Nightmare on Elm Street films were arguably the most creative, both aesthetically and in the various means of murdering kids (which didn’t always involve gore). Though certainly products of their time, they were always more visually interesting than most of their ilk and Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) had the most amusing personality of all the other horror icons of the era (sometimes to the franchise’s detriment). 

Last year, Warner Brothers released a 4K restoration of the first film, which featured a good video upgrade, though the biggest improvement was the Dolby Atmos audio mix. Now all seven films are being given the same treatment with this boxed set (also available on Amazon as a more elaborate SteelBook). The restorations for the sequels are just as good, and again, they feature outstanding Dolby Atmos audio tracks.

As for the movies themselves, A Nightmare on Elm Street remains the best one, largely because it was unique at the time and possibly the first supernatural slasher film (but don’t quote me on that). The intelligent story (for the genre), imaginative set-pieces and an overall serious tone are still engaging all these years later. It also presents Freddy Krueger as mysterious, malevolent and menacing…before he became horror’s Henny Youngman. Maybe not Wes Craven’s best film, it’s easily his most culturally significant. The National Film Registry thought so, too.  

Though somewhat underwhelming when first released, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge at least deserves props for trying something a little different with the concept, though it’s mostly remembered today for its unintentional homoerotic undertones. While A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors remains a fan favorite, this is where the horror began to take a backseat to special effects and Freddy’s quotable one-liners. Still, it’s visually engaging, with some elaborate death scenes.

Soul food.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master sometimes plays more like a big-budget MTV music video than a horror film, but it also features some of the best dream sequences and special effects (Freddy’s ‘meatball’ pizza is an icky highlight). The inevitable law of diminishing returns rears its ugly head with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, where it seems like more effort was put into the soundtrack album than the story (though Bruce Dickinson’s “Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter” is a killer tune).

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is the series’ nadir and a desperate attempt to squeeze blood from a turnip. Gratuitous stunt casting and 3-D (for the final ten minutes) don’t mask what is essentially a cash grab. Not even those involved in making it liked this one. And yes, the 3-D version is included in this set, with glasses. Then just when we thought the franchise was dead, along came Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. As the title indicates, the guy who created Freddy in the first place returns to conclude the series on a high note. A clever, self-aware meta movie, it can be seen as the precursor to Craven’s Scream franchise. Most importantly, it made Freddy scary again.

Keep in mind that none of the sequels are available separately. That means Freddy fans who purchased A Nightmare on Elm Street last year are gonna have to do it again, and those who prefer to pick and choose are still gonna be stuck with Freddy’s Dead. Additionally, only Wes Craven’s New Nightmare includes new bonus features. The rest feature supplemental material that’s been around for awhile (the first film having the most). Still, the technical aspects might be worth the upgrade those longtime fans of the franchise.

EXTRA KIBBLES

DIGITAL COPIES OF ALL 7 FILMS

A Nightmare on Elm Street:

THEATRICAL & UNCUT VERSIONS

FEATURETTES - The House That Freddy Built is a look at New Line Cinema’s horror history, primarily its ‘08s output and largely focused on the Elm Street Series; Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street is an excellent 50-minute retrospective documentary; Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmare features the late director discussing the real life inspiration for the film.

2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By writer-director Wes Craven, actors Heather Langenkamp & John Saxon, cinematographer Jacques Haitki. 2) By several members of the cast & crew, as well as historian David Del Valle.

FOCUS POINTS - Various behind-the-scenes segments and alternate takes of scenes.

3 ALTERNATE ENDINGS

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge:

FEATURETTES - Freddy on 8th Street; Heroes and Villains; The Male Witch; Psychosexual Circus (where we learn all the gay subtext was unintentional).

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors:

BEHIND THE STORY - A multi-part look at the making of the film.

MUSIC VIDEO - “Dream Warriors,” by Dokken. About as ‘80s as videos get.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master:

FEATURETTES - The Finnish Line; Krueger, Freddy Krueger; Hopeless Ghost; Let’s Makeup.

 A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child:

THEATRICAL & UNCUT VERSIONS

BEHIND THE STORY - A five-part look at the making of the film.

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare:

3-D GLASSES - For the 3-D segments, which are the best part of the movie.

FEATURETTES - 86’D; Hellraiser; Rachel’s Dream; 3D Demise. Some of those interviewed are surprisingly candid about this one’s shortcomings.

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare:

NEW FEATURETTES - Boiler Room Confessional features several people discussing the series’ longevity; Freddy’s Footnotes features more of the same people discussing classic Freddy moments; Becoming a Filmmaker is technically new, since it features the late Wes Craven discussing his humble beginnings, but it’s new to home video.

FEATURETTES - Filmmaker; An Insane Troupe; The Problem with Sequels; Two Worlds.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Wes Craven.

WELCOME TO PRIME TIME - Running about 50 minutes, this multipart features of short pieces about several aspects of the entire series.

CONCLUSION - Similar to the feature above, this one focuses more on the series’ aesthetic and cultural impact.