Annabelle Comes Home has no business being as compelling, frightening and heart-wrenching as the new to the Conjuring universe flick manages to be. Gary Dauberman’s directorial debut has triumphantly made its way to Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download formats and if you are a fan of the world in which this story resides, adding this title to your home video collection is a no brainer.
The doll’s beginnings, in hindsight, seem to innocent. But over the course of her own films, and of course The Conjuring flicks, that doe-eyed doll is anything but innocent. She has been known to make people do some extraordinarily bad things.
Firmly set in that Conjuring world, Annabelle Comes Home commences with our favorite evil spirit squashers, Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson), returning from purging an evil entity from the doll. Annabelle is on her way to a special room in the Warren’s house where all their possessed or demonized items lie dormant, under lock and key.
The film takes place in the 70s and that is firmly established by the costumes, what comes on the radio, the cars and yes, the technology that inhabits a home (or doesn’t!). There is also a healthy fascination with the Warrens from friends, neighbors and fellow students who know the couple’s daughter Judy (McKenna Grace). Among them is the tween’s babysitter, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman). As the Warrens head out for the evening for an event, Mary Ellen comes over with a friend Daniela (Katie Sarife), whose obsession with the homeowners and the macabre knows no bounds. So much so as she does something that will drive horror aficionados crazy. I mean, how many times have people gone in rooms, gone down hallways, entered homes, etc. that always lead to hell unleashed? Don’t worry, it’s handled subtly and believably in Annabelle Comes Home because don’t you know that the babysitter’s BFF is going to open that glass case and get to know that devilish doll.
What happens next is not pretty, but it sure is entertaining. The flick feels a bit like a haunted house thriller in that all the action takes place inside the Warrens home. The best self-contained horror flicks have to work extra hard to keep the thrills raw, the shock and awe real and above all else, find a way to have a small number of characters (here the main three) engaged with what it is that is haunting them, engaged with one another and have it all be believable that these subjects would not go running from the house and never look back! Also, keep in mind, this is a pre-cell phone era, so getting in touch with the demon slayers is close to impossible and that hangs over the viewers’ anticipation meter like an anvil. Annabelle Comes Home achieves all of that gloriously and keeps us guessing throughout as to where the drama will veer off to next.
The young actress who plays Judy performs in such a manner that would be expected of a thespian twice her age. She’s thirteen …but is as experienced as anyone on this particular set. She was the young daughter of Chris Evans in the stunning Gifted and has been performing on the big and small screen since she was seven. Her reaction to the terror that is engulfing her home is a fascinating study. After all, she is the daughter of the Warrens and keenly knows all about the scary room that she (or anyone other than the Warrens) are never supposed to enter. Yet, the horror has never been so front and center to her like it is in this flick and the actress straddles a razor thin line impeccably. That line is a character who is intimately familiar with their parents’ work in a theoretical realm, yet when she comes face-to-face with it her reaction must come from a place that is utterly different than her babysitter and her friend. It’s scary, but facing fears is something that is innately felt … after all, she is a Warren. Great job by the young actress that we suspect we will be hearing about for decades to come.
The babysitter and her friend and why their remorse is real, and the horror is horrifying. Both Iseman and Sarife are like deer in headlights bookends to Grace. Yet, as the more “adult” of the trio, they must put up a front of fortitude that masks ferocious fear in a manner that would be a major challenge to any actress. Each handles their role in this terror tale quite well.
Conjuring guru James Wan (who penned and directed Insidious, Insidious 2, The Conjuring 2 … all before breaking out of the horror genre with the billion dollar blockbuster Aquaman) co-wrote the script with this film’s director, Gary Dauberman. The helmer makes his big screen debut after penning some killer horror shows, including the first Annabelle flick, It, The Nun and It: Chapter 2. The fascinating thing about this world of horror movie making is in many ways, it is a small landscape. Dauberman may have made his directorial debut with Annabelle Comes Home, but he has been on the set and around filmmakers in this arena for years. With Wan also serving as producer and co-writer, the feature film director’s debut is not without heaps of experience and loads of support. And it shows, there is a reason The Conjuring flicks have exponentially exploded as they have a bevy of brilliant filmmakers who are immensely talented and richly developed.
Also terrific with these films is their bonus features. You got to love a franchise or even a single film that goes into the filmmaking process with one eye on giving audiences a front row seat to how the film was made. There is a great three-part behind-the-scenes featurette that could not be more recommended. Part 1: The Ferryman/Demon finds actor Alexander Ward delving deeply into his role in not one, but two of the film’s most terrifying characters. This featurette is wickedly informative in how the use of prosthetics enhanced his performances and as well has having the actor give us an inside scoop as to how he pulled the whole thing together.
Part 2: The Bloody Bride gives us a three-minute education into Natalia Safran’s bloodied character that is as entertaining as it is informative. Finally, Part 3: The Werewolf winds up delivering the most intense look at how that werewolf scene was put together. Folks who have not seen the movie yet are like, “Wait, there’s a werewolf?!” Yes, you bet there is … and that scene has some serious bite. Pun intended.
After hearing about it and seeing it in several of these films, the Warrens’ room of evil goodies gets the spotlight with the wickedly entertaining featurette The Artifact Room and the Occult. Viewers get a front-row tour of the Warrens’ room that is so compelling that it got that babysitter to do the unthinkable! We get to enjoy the room from a distance in the comfort of our own home. Although … don’t be surprised if you are looking in closets before bed that night!
Although their roles are somewhat small, their shadow is immense, so it is appropriate and utterly fascinating that The Light and the Love takes us inside the relationship of Ed and Lorraine and how it is lovingly flourishing, despite their dark occupation.
Film Grade: B+
Bonus Features: B+