ANNABELLE COMES HOME (2019) - Movie Review

Director: Gary Dauberman
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Michael Cimino
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Runtime: 106 min
Rated: Rated R for horror violence and terror
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her “safely” behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens’ ten year- old daughter, Judy, and her friends.

Review:

"Annabelle Comes Home", the third installment in "The Conjuring" universe's possessed doll spinoff series is a major disappointment, especially since the the previous movie, "Annabelle: Creation", was so good. The new film is no longer a prequel, but a sequel set in demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren's own house, where the demonic doll finds a way out of its glass case prison to wreak more havoc. In 2019, this was already the sixth installment in "The Conjuring" cinematic universe, so the creative juices were running low.

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson have brief appearances in the film's prologue and epilogue, and unfortunately those are the film's best scenes. The protagonists of this new supernatural adventure are the Warren's daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace), her babysitter Mary (Madison Iseman) and the babysitter's friend Daniela (Katie Sarife). Trouble is afoot when Daniela sneaks into the Warrens' artifacts room and inadvertently releases the doll, and along with it an army of evil spirits that layed dormant in the creepy basement.

The movie plays like "Goosebumps" on steroids, and despite being rated R (for no good reason), it's pretty much a children's horror film. And not a good one, either. This sequel's gimmick is that the doll is now a beacon for other spirits. Which is really just an excuse to have more murderous entities like the Ferryman, the Bride, and the Black Shuck running around trying to kill people, while Annabelle becomes a side villain in her own movie. Who knows, maybe those three will get their own origin story spinoffs. My guess is that they just didn't know what else to do for a third movie now that the doll's origins have been thoroughly explained.

The scares are predictable, the thrills are cheap and the production has a "made-for-TV" look complete with terrible CGI. It's also tropey as hell, starting with the very basic cliche you're probably familiar with: "When the writing says don't open something, by all means, open it". Just eye-rolling stuff, really. Overall, the story has the feel of an adventure-of-the-week TV show, and there's nothing remotely interesting about the three lead characters, or their predicament.

"Annabelle Comes Home" is both the worst of the "Annabelle" movies, and the entire "The Conjuring" franchise. I believe I can safely label this movie as a shameless cash grab, and it's definitely one you can easily skip and miss absolutely nothing.

SCORE: 4/10