One sentence review: Annabelle Comes Home uses all the tricks in The Conjuring playbook to be one of the scariest and most entertaining movies in the franchise. The movie succeeds by going back to basics. Like the original film, it's slow, deliberate, atmospheric, and most importantly, terrifying. It also carries on the tradition of inventive scares using some classic tactics — but it also isn't afraid to subvert expectations. It's the best film since the original.
Yet, it's still a step-down and a great example of why we need to move away from franchises. By being part of a cinematic universe, Annabelle Comes Home allows itself to be formulaic. That formula works but requires additional unique elements to keep it afloat. This movie comes close to having those elements but doesn't quite get there.
Where to watch Annabelle Comes Home: Now playing in wide release.
Grab a crucifix and some holy water. Full review below ?
You would think that Annabelle Comes Home, the seventh film in The Conjuring universe and the third Annabelle film, is doomed to fail. The franchise has been losing steam as of late, especially after two of the worse entries in the unlikely horror franchise — The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona, which is already a film that doesn't exist. However, with The Conjuring stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprising their roles as demonologists Ed and Lorraine, Annabelle Comes Home finds itself by leaning on what made the original film so good in the first place.
The movie starts where The Conjuring starts. Ed and Lorraine help two young women who are being terrorized by a doll named Annabelle, which is possessed by a demonic entity intent on possessing a human. As they are taking the doll to their home to be blessed and put somewhere it can't do harm — although that clearly doesn't work out — they are blocked by a car accident that requires them to take a detour leading to an atmosphere-setting cold open that lets you know you're in for a ride.
The Warrens lock Annabelle in a room that is filled with haunted and cursed items ranging from a suit of Samurai armor to a wedding dress to a pile of gold coins. Then, we meet the real protagonists of the film. While the Warrens are away, their daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace) is put in the care of high schooler Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), who, unlike most babysitters in movies, is actually pretty great. Her friend Daniela (Katie Sarife) is the real trouble maker.
When she learns what the Warrens do for a living, she weasels her way into the house under the guise of helping Judy celebrate her birthday, but she has other plans. She makes her way into the locked room and, as the trailer emphasizes, touches everything — including Annabelle. From there, the movie is a twisted and terrifying haunted house horror as each of the girls in the house — and Mary Ellen's suitor Bob (Michael Cimino) — are harrassed by the unleashed entities.
While The Conjuring is certainly a more artful horror film, Annabelle Comes Home is a pure mainstream crowdpleaser — but it still does a lot of what made the original film in the franchise work. Mainly, it doesn't always go for the easy scare. It lays in weight. It builds tensions. And then it snaps. While Annabelle Comes Home does quite have the same patience, it makes up for it in pure moments of terror. This movie is terrifying from beginning to end and has little reprieve.
It also pulls the wrong lessons from The Conjuring 2 and The Nun and features a bit too many CGI-based scares, but they're not enough to derail the film. Overall, a mix of good old fashioned scares, interesting characters, and an ever-expanding universe of creatures keep this franchise alive and well.
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Hey! I'm Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I'm also a Tomatometer-approved critic.
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