The fourth movie in the Conjuring franchise, “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” was marketed as the grand finale of the extremely popular horror movie franchise. Going into this movie, however, my hopes were not high. After many disappointing follow-ups to the original “Conjuring,” it seemed like this movie was destined to fall victim to mediocrity, as many of its counterparts did.

Simply put, the movie succumbs to one of the worst sins a movie can; it was just boring. The pacing was poor as the main characters, the Warren family, don’t get involved with the actual haunting until an hour and a half in. It feels like many scenes in the movie are fluff and just there to pad the time of the movie. It works, as the two hour and 15-minute runtime feels far too long.

The plotlines were predictable, as I found myself guessing what was going to happen a good couple of minutes before it occurred on screen. It seemed like the director, Michael Chaves, didn’t have anything new or innovative, so he just borrowed from as many different horror movies as possible. The main perpetrator of this is the constant use of jump scares as a crutch to spook the audience, as opposed to thinking of anything uniquely scary.

One positive was the acting and the relationships we see the characters maintain throughout the movie. It really seemed like the movie was pushing the emotional and character-driven scenes, more so than other “Conjuring” movies.

Another good thing about the movie was the visual design. The main haunting, set in Pennsylvania in 1986, felt very accurate to the time period and was an incredibly interesting location to see. The dark, gritty and dirty theme that goes along with the haunting was one of the very few highlights of this movie.

Anyone who goes into this movie expecting a great end to the “Conjuring” series will be sorely disappointed. It seemed like the movie was setting up the Warrens’ daughter and her husband to become the next generation of ghost hunters. If this is true, I sincerely hope whoever directs that future movie has a better sense of what is needed to create a good “Conjuring” movie.

Ultimately, because of its uninspired plot, predictable scares and scarily slow pacing, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” fails to live up to its predecessors despite some great visual design as well as some heartfelt character moments.