'The Conjuring: Last Rites' Casts an Unknown Star as One of the Franchise's Last Monsters
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga returned one last time as the famous paranormal investigators, the Warrens.
Published Sept. 8 2025, 4:14 p.m. ET
For more than a decade, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) entertained the world through the Conjuring franchise. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even box office smash hits.
The Conjuring: Last Rites was produced by Warner Bros. and New Line, and it brings the story of the Warrens to a close. As expected, the sequel introduced new monsters to the acclaimed series.
One of the most intriguing characters introduced in The Conjuring: Last Rites was an evil spirit who attacked people with an axe. Ever since the first trailer for the movie was released, viewers wondered who the man was and what his presence meant for the story.
Who played the axe man in The Conjuring: The Last Rites? Here's everything we know about the mysterious character and the actor who was brave enough to step into his shoes.
Who plays the axe man in 'The Conjuring: Last Rites'?
Warner Bros. didn't officially acknowledge who plays the axe man in The Conjuring: Last Rites ahead of the movie's opening weekend. The only way for people to know who the performer behind the monster turned out to be was to scan the credits once the story was done.
According to IMDb, Leigh Jones is listed as Abner in the movie's cast.
There is no major character named Abner in The Conjuring: Last Rites. In the sequel, Lorraine Warren senses the spirit of a man who murdered his wife and mother-in-law many decades before the events of the movie take place.
Abner is a name that fits the character's description. It doesn't sound modern enough for the time in which the movie takes place, and Leigh's facial features and height match the appearance of the spirit with an axe.
The axe man joins a formidable 'Conjuring' roster.
The axe man was just the latest evil spirit to be introduced to the Conjuring franchise. The first major villain Ed and Lorraine Warren had to take down was Bathsheba Sherman (Joseph Bishara), a powerful witch who was haunting a young family during the events of the first movie in the series.
The Conjuring also introduced the infamous Annabelle doll. The toy served as conduit between a demon and the human world.
James Wan followed up his successful horror adaptation with The Conjuring 2, where the Demon Nun (Bonnie Aarons) made her way to the big screen. The antagonist was successful enough to return as the villain in her own spin-offs, titled The Nun and The Nun II.
Annabelle was also lucky enough to get three separate movies of her own.
If The Conjuring: Last Rites is indeed the last installment in the main series, time will tell if Warner Bros. will give Leigh Jones the opportunity to lead his own spin-off as the evil spirit with an axe.