{"id":9921,"date":"2024-12-10T23:55:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=9921"},"modified":"2024-12-10T23:55:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:55:38","slug":"annabelle-comes-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/12\/10\/annabelle-comes-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Annabelle Comes Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Annabelle Comes Home<\/strong> (2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 106 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (horror violence, terror)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Gary Dauberman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Gary Dauberman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Joseph Bishara\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Michael Burgess\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 26, 2019 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee, Luca Luhan.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $74.2M (US)\/$231.3M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0For those keeping track, Annabelle Comes Home<\/strong> 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\u2019ll be the day.<\/p>\n

\u00a0So here\u2019s what happens in Annabelle Comes Home<\/strong>. On the eventful ride home, the Warrens\u2019 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\u2019s 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 \u201cWarning. Positively do not open.\u201d Of course, this is NOT the end of the story, not by a long shot.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The story this time around centers on the Warrens\u2019 10YO daughter Judy (Grace, Gifted), a surprisingly well-adjusted kid considering what line of work Mom and Dad are in. It\u2019s 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\u2019s parents are away on an overnight business trip.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mary Ellen\u2019s 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\u2019ve 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\u2019s case. When she does that, all supernatural hell breaks loose courtesy of that cursed doll. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I 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<\/strong> 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<\/strong>, in its own way, honors that tradition. While I\u2019m glad it carries an R rating (for \u201chorror violence and terror\u201d), I\u2019m not entirely sure if it\u2019s deserved. There\u2019s no body count, no significant violence and the terror isn\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n

\u00a0McKenna 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 \u201cspooky\u201d because she has an otherworldly calmness to her. She doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s a child who enjoys the same things as other children- e.g. roller skating, sneakily dipping her finger into cake batter. She\u2019s also terrified of that Annabelle doll. She won\u2019t even talk about it with Mary Ellen and Daniela. Grace makes the character believable. She\u2019s such a fine young actress; it\u2019s 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\u2019s sadness and guilt tangible.<\/p>\n

\u00a0My only real issue with Annabelle Comes Home<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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\u2019ll never hear Badfinger\u2019s \u201cDay After Day\u201d the same way again.<\/p>\n

\u00a0All in all, I\u2019d say Annabelle Comes Home<\/strong> is a fairly decent summer horror movie. Also, given all that happens once Annabelle is freed from her case, I\u2019d say there are at least a half-dozen possible Conjuring spin-offs just waiting to be written. I\u2019d sure like to know more about that cursed wedding dress.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s from last spring\u2019s The Curse of La Llorona.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Annabelle Comes Home (2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 106 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (horror violence, terror)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Gary Dauberman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Gary Dauberman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Joseph Bishara\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Michael Burgess\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 26, 2019 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee, Luca Luhan.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $74.2M (US)\/$231.3M (World) Rating: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-horror","category-sequels-remakes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Annabelle-Comes-Home-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9921"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10268,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9921\/revisions\/10268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}