Annabelle Comes Home | Film Review

In Annabelle Comes Home, The Conjuring lead duo Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) drop in for an extended cameo to open our latest journey into the antics of this demonically possessed doll, as they capture and return the doll to their tranquil residence in Suburbia, USA. Once there, the Warrens take a sabbatical for the majority of the film as their daughter, Judy (played by the soulful beyond her years McKenna Grace), and her babysitter, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), find themselves squaring off with Annabelle and her evil minions for a night of hell.

Gary Dauberman, a writer on several Conjuring films (as well as Stephen King’s IT adaptation), takes his first stab at directing here and showcases a notable talent for eschewing cheap jump scares and focusing solely on building tension through atmosphere and mounting dread. It is almost an old-fashioned approach in this day-and-age to allow a film to tingle your senses rather than jolt your spine, and it is one that is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, as adept as Dauberman is at capturing and establishing chills, the plot here is virtually non-existent. After Mary Ellen’s BFF Daniela (Katie Sarife, in what deserves to become her breakout role) cons her way into the Warren’s evil storage room, the angst ridden teen-with-a-secret then decides to play with literally every demonic artifact before opening Annabelle’s clearly marked “OPEN THIS AND EVERYONE DIES HORRIBLY” case, releasing Annabelle for the remainder of the movie. But that’s about it for story.

Sure, there are several notions of Annabelle needing a soul and our heroines fending off the various tortured demons until daylight (though there is a nice touch with the lone male, Michael Cimino’s Bob, spending the entirety of the film screaming and hiding in terror), but ultimately the movie ends whenever any of these reasonably intelligent characters would normally decide to invoke common sense and plop Annabelle back in her cage.

For just one example, it becomes increasingly frustrating when the script clearly demonstrates that Judy – a bright kid gifted with her mother’s psychic abilities and astutely aware of the dire consequences of Annabelle on the loose – sees Annabelle pop up in various rooms on multiple occasions, and yet she never thinks to check the storage room to see if she has wandered free. Audiences always have to swallow a bit of sense to enjoy these types of films (we all know that you just torch this hideous doll the second you find it), but dragging out the plausibility always makes it a more difficult voyage to endure.

The Conjuring Universe is a precarious thing: for every new film that releases, it seems another is born within it. Annabelle Comes Home is no different, as this time we are treated to a terrifying cemetery locale, a psychotic bride, a hellhound, and even a board game in Feeley Meeley, the horror equivalent to Jumanji. Any of these would make a vividly exciting franchise of their own, and they each get a moment to shine and state their case for such here.

Annabelle Come Home is an entertaining matinee to catch with friends in need of a few atmospheric thrills. In terms of the Annabelle franchise, this is the best of the three. Sadly, that’s akin to saying this is the least bruised banana in the bunch. Gary Dauberman has a distinct vision and talent for raising the hairs on the back of your neck in a genuine fashion, he belongs in this genre. Hopefully his next project will have just a bit more meat in the stew.