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Plot Summary: While babysitting the daughter of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a teenager and her friend unknowingly awaken an evil spirit trapped in a doll.

Director: Gary Dauberman

Writer: James Wan

Runtime: 1h 46 min

Main Cast:

• Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren
• Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren
• Mckenna Grace as Judy Warren
• Madison Iseman as Mary Ellen
• Katie Sarife as Daniela Rios

Review by: Mia

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My initial reaction to Annabelle Comes Home could most accurately be described as fatigue. At this point, the franchise that brought us Annabelle has created several films: (In order of release)

·         The Conjuring

·         Annabelle

·         The Conjuring 2

·         Annabelle: Creation

·         The Nun

·         Annabelle Comes Home

·         The Conjuring 3 (2020)

The demonic doll excels as a creepy ornament of one of the most popular demonic horrors (based on a true story) to be presented in film this decade. The Conjuring Universe, which follows The Warrens, Consultants of Demonology Witchcraft, stands as one of the few Horror Films in recent cinematic history to solidly attempt to match the thrill factors in Horror Movies past. In the past ten years, not many horror movies have impressed enough to be considered classics. Most Horror Films released are more accurately described as “fast food horror,” where the norm becomes jump scares, horrific karma, and raising the gruesome factor in order to force the desired scared reaction from audiences. The skill behind good Horror Films lies in the psychology. Sure, it is fairly easy to scare an audience with shock factor or surprise trauma, but true Horror emphasizes storytelling and directing techniques that push for the audience to scare themselves just contemplating the concept. The best Horror Films in history all shared several important traits: psychologically compelling storytelling, suspenseful directing, and unique villains. The history of The Conjuring Universe contains films that meet this criteria and others that do not. Annabelle Comes Home could easily have gone either way, but being that it was the third in a trilogy of Annabelle films, the likelihood of the film truly scaring us with the concept of a haunted doll was unlikely. The trailer addresses how this film planned to refresh the creepy American Girl story gone wrong: Annabelle becomes the catalyst for The Warren Family Home turning into a Demon Support Group Location.

“Everything you see in here is either haunted, cursed, or has been used in some sort of ritualistic practice.”

I made my way to the theater curious about how scared I could get with multiple demon concepts converging in one space. The story begins, we see that The Warrens have a routine of bringing home items from their assignments for the protection of everyone involved, including the Annabelle Doll referenced in several of the past films. The doll has been locked away in a glass box made from pieces of an old Church because the being attached to it is so powerful that not only does it try to take the souls of others, it also attracts other malignant beings to it. Still, it is locked away safe and sound and The Warren Couple are ready to go back out on an assignment. Their daughter is left home with her beloved teen baby sitter and her best friend. The best friend is eager to encounter spirits from the other side and, in the process of completely violating all the rules of respecting haunted and cursed items, awakens essentially everything locked away in the safe room of the Warren Home. The girls are then fighting to stay alive as all the demons of the Warren’s past assignments release and converge, wanting a soul and having three options to choose from: a young clairvoyant Warren girl, a baby sitter who surprisingly resembles the past victims of one of the demons, and a gullible and reckless potential vessel who opened herself up to be who the demons interact with.

What I Liked:

As with other films in The Conjuring Universe, Annabelle Comes Home does an excellent job of lining up the story so that the haunting falls in place with peak stress for the audience. Every step of the way, you are emotionally invested in the characters. You want to see Judy Warren prevail as Annabelle targets her. You are rooting for the clueless Blonde Baby Sitter to do a better job of realizing what this haunted home she is responsible for has going on. You want to slap the teeth out of the rebellious best friend who goes knocking on the doors of a dozen sleeping demons within the basement of the home. You even get a cute romantic interest providing comedic relief and an extra dose of stress as he accidentally ropes himself into a demonic convergence just by trying to visit his crush. The film is so compelling that it actually encourages audience feedback. Those within the theater shout at the characters, laugh together, cringe as they anticipate the inevitable horror to come. The thrill of the film is there and consistent. That is exactly what you want in a horror film, modern era.

What I Didn’t Like:

Unfortunately, Annabelle Comes Home falls into the “Fast Food Horror” category. While the film is well-made with consistent cinematography and dialogue, it is still a mashup of all the possible jump scares and emotional triggers that the Conjuring Universe team could think of. I would describe the experience of watching this film as similar to walking through a Haunted Horror House or of doing a dash through an amusement park to hit every possible roller coaster in as short an amount of time as possible. You are overdosing on thrill with little to no plot involved. The story relies on you worrying about the innocent characters (children, doe eyed baby sitters, etc) to get that investment and suspense off the ground. You are then bombarded with demonic presence until you reach the other side of the Horror House in one piece. Band-aid ripped off, you are able to relax once again knowing that the demons came out to play for a night but luckily Judy Warren is cut from the same cloth as her parents, even at age ten, and saves the day. All is forgiven, rebellious demonic vessel, and no one is angry that you set free a group of starving demons on an unsuspecting neighborhood.

Images Courtesy of IMDB