Annabelle Comes Home (2019) Warner Bros./Horror RT: 106 minutes Rated R (horror violence, terror) Director: Gary Dauberman Screenplay: Gary Dauberman Music: Joseph Bishara Cinematography: Michael Burgess Release date: June 26, 2019 (US) Cast: Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee, Luca Luhan. Box Office: $74.2M (US)/$231.3M (World)
Rating: ***
For those keeping track, Annabelle Comes Home is the third film in the Annabelle series and the seventh in the Conjuring Universe franchise. The action in this installment takes place between the first scene and the rest of the first Conjuring movie in 2013. Its jump-off point is just after paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) remove that creepy Annabelle doll from the home of the two nurses. It takes the time for Lorraine to explain that objects do NOT get possessed, people do. The doll is merely a conduit for evil spirits. Either way, it must be locked away in a place where it can no longer do harm. HA! That’ll be the day.
So here’s what happens in Annabelle Comes Home. On the eventful ride home, the Warrens’ car breaks down in front of cemetery. The doll summons evil spirits that try to kill Ed by pushing him in front of a truck. It’s a near miss; everybody is freaked out. When they finally reach their home, a priest is waiting to bless the doll before the Warrens lock her in a glass case with a sign reading “Warning. Positively do not open.” Of course, this is NOT the end of the story, not by a long shot.
The story this time around centers on the Warrens’ 10YO daughter Judy (Grace, Gifted), a surprisingly well-adjusted kid considering what line of work Mom and Dad are in. It’s off-putting to her classmates and their parents as evidenced by all of them declining to attend her upcoming birthday party. By way of consolation, she gets to hang out with her babysitter/best friend Mary Ellen (Iseman, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) who will be spending the night while Judy’s parents are away on an overnight business trip.
Mary Ellen’s best friend Daniela (Sarife, Youth & Consequences) shows up purportedly to hang out with them. The truth is she wants access to the locked room where the Warrens keep all the cursed objects they’ve acquired over the years. Why? She wants to communicate with her recently deceased father with whom she was close. While poking around the room, she (of course) opens Annabelle’s case. When she does that, all supernatural hell breaks loose courtesy of that cursed doll. It’s a night of terror as the three girls, along with a boy (Cimino) who likes Mary Ellen, must survive while trying to contain the evil unleashed by Annabelle.
I tend be hard on horror movies because I grew up in the 80s amid the whole Dead Teenager/Mad Slasher movie phase. Annabelle Comes Home is neither of those, but it is a throwback to the spirit of the R-rated horror movies of my youth. It has a couple of hot teenage babysitters and a slightly spooky child getting into life-threatening trouble after messing around with the occult. Yes, this is the kind of scary movie that made for a great Friday night at the movies. Annabelle Comes Home, in its own way, honors that tradition. While I’m glad it carries an R rating (for “horror violence and terror”), I’m not entirely sure if it’s deserved. There’s no body count, no significant violence and the terror isn’t even that intense. It probably could have gotten away with a PG-13. However, since all the movies in the Conjuring Universe are rated R, why break with tradition?
McKenna Grace, taking over the role played by Sterling Jerins in the first two Conjuring films, does a good job as Judy. I describe her character as “spooky” because she has an otherworldly calmness to her. She doesn’t lose her cool when being bullied at school by the other kids. She has an understanding of death uncommon to people her age. She knows instinctively that Daniela lost somebody close to her without being told beforehand. It turns out she has the same psychic gifts as her mother. At the same time, she’s a child who enjoys the same things as other children- e.g. roller skating, sneakily dipping her finger into cake batter. She’s also terrified of that Annabelle doll. She won’t even talk about it with Mary Ellen and Daniela. Grace makes the character believable. She’s such a fine young actress; it’s about time she got another lead role (after Gifted). Iseman and Sarife are appealing in their roles. Iseman plays Mary Ellen as affable and responsible while Sarife makes Daniela’s sadness and guilt tangible.
My only real issue with Annabelle Comes Home is pacing. While there are a handful of decent jump-scares, it does tend to drag in parts. In trying to build up suspense, writer-director Gary Dauberman (he wrote the first two Annabelle flicks) actually slows things down. The script definitely could have used some tightening up. On the upside, Annabelle Comes Home is thick with atmosphere. Call me a sucker but I love it when the director brings out the fog machine. It makes the scene look creepier. The CGI effects are okay, nothing special or innovative. The storyline is pretty straightforward. I like the early 70s setting with the vintage clothes, interiors, TV shows (I LOVE Captain Kangaroo!) and music. I’ll never hear Badfinger’s “Day After Day” the same way again.
All in all, I’d say Annabelle Comes Home is a fairly decent summer horror movie. Also, given all that happens once Annabelle is freed from her case, I’d say there are at least a half-dozen possible Conjuring spin-offs just waiting to be written. I’d sure like to know more about that cursed wedding dress.
EASTER EGG ALERT: Early on, the Warrens are stopped at the scene of a car accident at a tunnel. Does it look familiar? It should. It’s from last spring’s The Curse of La Llorona.
