Annabelle Comes Home
Directed by Gary Dauberman
Part of The Conjuring series
The Warrens are still battling the demons of the world and this time, it is up to their young daughter Judy (McKenna Grace) to contend with the evil that surrounds the cursed doll, Annabelle.
Judy is left to the care of her teen sitter, Mary (Madison Iseman) while parents Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively) are away for the night. Evil gets unleashed when Mary’s curious friend Daniela (Katie Sarife) opens the locked artifact museum and unintentionally unleashes a Pandora’s Box of demons. It’s up to the girls to deal with the consequences.
While not necessarily adding anything substantial to the mythos of Annabelle and the Conjuring Universe in general, the film builds and builds on lots of suspense and then pulls you under the rug. You’ll be hearing your heart racing in no time. I would say it’s scary AND fun, but that’s because I enjoy hearing others in the audience scream.
The story is just meh, but direction has a strong command of the filmic language of suspense that doesn’t rely heavily on jump scares. The filmmakers pay lots of respect to the audience’s anticipation, which greatly helps the build-up of scenes. There’s also a few smart nods and twists to slasher film tropes involving the apple of Mary’s eyes, Bob (Michael Cimino.) For its modest budget, the film looks good and appropriately lit, with minimal use of CGI that would otherwise cheapen the thrill. This may also be the reason why the film has an old-school vibe.
This is a strong debut for writer-director Gary Dauberman, who wrote the Annabelle series as well as The Nun. Unlike those two previous films, Comes Home feels more confident as a horror film in terms of how everything is set up from the page to the screen.
Before the show starts, you get treated to a slew of horror film trailers in succession (It 2, the sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep and a horror to a certain extent, Joker) which def sets you in the mood.
Trailer here: https://youtu.be/MFqZGCLtxzo
Links and images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
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