Annabelle Comes Home | Film Review

Hey Guys x

The Conjuring universe is my second favourite franchise of all time, so of course there was no way that I was going to miss the third 'Annabelle' movie, especially since I loved the first two a lot.

After the events of 'Annabelle' (or rather, after the very beginning scene of 'The Conjuring') Ed (Partick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren have taken the Annabelle doll home, locking it away in a safe place that can contain all the evil within it. However, when they're away one night, their daughter Judy (McKenna Grace), babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) and Mary Ellen's friend Daniela (Katie Sarife) find themselves trapped in a house full of evil entities. But is Annabelle really the cause of everything that's happening? And can they find her before it's too late?

One of the reasons that I love the Conjuring universe so much is that, yes the movies are scary, and I love to be scared. But it never feels like the story is being sacrificed to make room for scares. Beneath the jumps, there is always something worth watching in there.

For some reason, this film didn't capture me in the same way that some of the other movies in the franchise have.

First of all, the story was weaker than in other movies. Although by now the audience knows just what Annabelle is capable of, I didn't ever really feel fearful for the character's lives. I think part of it was the fact that Judy Warren, while never before a main character, was very essential to some of the previous movie's plots, so I knew that nothing would happen to her. And while I liked the other characters, I didn't feel as terrified for them as the film clearly wanted me to feel.

Another aspect of the story that I'm not sure about is the fact that the people are being haunted by a variety of things, due to the fact that the hauntings originate from the Warren's haunted artefacts room.This isn't unusual to the Conjuring movies, as a lot of them (The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation etc.) featured a main 'haunt' and then a secondary 'haunt'.
But for this film, I felt like there were too many things to watch for. Not to give anything away, but I would have been happy for Annabelle to take complete control of all things scary, and I feel like she didn't really get her chance to shine, like she has in other movies.

And then there's the simple fact that it just wasn't that scary. The Conjuring Universe movies heavily rely on jump scares, but the thing with them is that the situations in themselves are scary enough that the jump scares just add to that. For example, in the Conjuring 2, the character of the Crooked Man (which is being made into a spin-off movie, I believe) is scary enough that it would be scary without the added jump scare, which just adds to the terror. In this movie, nothing was scary enough without the jump scares, even Annabelle herself.
One reason for this could be that we know Annabelle so well at this point (not only does she have two previous movies, but she was also in both of the Conjuring movies), that the doll just isn't scary anymore. Maybe it's just me, but I wanted Annabelle's scares to be kicked up a notch, rather than her doing the same things that she did in the previous movies.
In addition to this, I personally found that they were using too many artefacts to provide scares. In a way, each character had their own scary demon to contend with, which again took away from the fact that this is an 'Annabelle' movie - even if the doll was the cause of all the terror in the movie, it would have been nice to see her a bit more.

However, that's not to say that I completely hated the movie, because I didn't at all.

The three leads were all amazing in their roles. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprising their roles was great, even if they weren't in the entirety of the movie. But honestly, those three girls are what made it for me. They were such different characters, each with interesting back stories (even the one that we don't find out that much about), and I feel like one of the reasons that the film did work was because, as an audience, we are interested in the lives of these three girls.

I also loved the connections to both 'The Conjuring' and 'Annabelle: Creation'. Of course, I won't spoil what those are, but they were done so well, particularly the 'Annabelle: Creation' one, which is in the trailer but definitely shouldn't be, as it would have been a great surprise for fans of the universe.

Overall, an enjoyable enough film, particularly if you're looking for a scare or two. Not as good as either of the Conjuring movies or 'Annabelle: Creation', but it definitely beats the first 'Annabelle' movie, and 'The Nun'. See it if you're a fan of the universe, but if you're not, skip it and wait for the next Conjuring movie, which I think will be really good!

6/10

Lou