Movie Info
Movie Name: Annabelle Comes Home
Studio: Atomic Monster
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): June 26, 2019
MPAA Rating: R
You have to pay the Ferryman
Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) have taken possession of a doll which attracts evil to it. Sealing it in a blessed case in their home, Annabelle has been rendered powerless. When Lorraine and Ed leave their daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace) with her babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), Mary Ellen’s friend Daniela Rios (Katie Sarife) turns her own interest in the occult into a problem when she releases Annabelle…and now the spirits of the other belongings in the Warren’s collection could become a danger.
Written and directed by Gary Dauberman, Annabelle Comes Home is a supernatural horror thriller. The movie is part of The Conjuring universe and follows 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona which featured a cameo of the doll but also a follow-up to Annabelle: Creation in 2017. The film received mixed reviews but a strong box office return.
It wouldn’t be an Annabelle movie unless someone gets their mouth vomited into
I want to like the Annabelle movies. I love creepy toy movies, and I like the idea of a doll like Annabelle having a “history”. With a creepy doll (too creepy to be very realistic), I just wish the movie was scarier.
In many ways, this (in my opinion) is one of the weaker entries in The Conjuring franchise. The story is rather typical. The tone of the film feels all wrong. It almost feels like a Goosebumps plot with a wacky group of spirits being released by kids and the kids trying to stay alive (and very little drama in that sense since nothing except a short possession happens to them). It pretty much feels like Adventures in Babysitting mixed with demonology.
The cast is ok. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson take a backseat in this film wish their child and her babysitter taking the lead (though Patrick Wilson gets the classic Patrick Wilson moment with a ghost behind him he can’t see). Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, and Katie Sarife aren’t quite to the level they need to be for the film (nor is Michael Cimino who runs around with a guitar). It feels like a typical slasher film cast which isn’t what the movies have ever been.
Best babysitter…or worst babysitter?
The movie features more “monsters” than previous entries with the Annabelle demon, Black Shuck, the Bride, and the Ferryman being some of the dangers, and I also like the stylized house that the Warrens live in. The film does a decent job creating scares, but it is let down by the story.
Annabelle Comes Home is a bit of a disappointment. It kind of reminds me of the Friday the 13th: The Series episode where the characters get shut in with the cursed objects…and while I enjoyed the Friday the 13th series, I kind of wanted more from a Conjuring movie (though it was better than The Curse of La Llorna). Annabelle Comes Home is followed by The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It in 2021.
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