The 7th film in The Conjuring Universe, and I really wanted them to step their game up with this one. After The Curse Of La Llorona didn’t live up to what I had hoped it would be, Annabelle, the CU’s first real symbol of horror, needed to give fans that terrifying experience they’ve been dying for.
First and foremost I like that the cast included a bit more of the Warren’s, Ed & Lorraine (Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga). Unlike the first two Annabelle films that didn’t, the Warren’s add something to the story. As the investigators who came across Annabelle in the original Conjuring film, I appreciated how they were able to use that scene from that film to begin Comes Home with. In the first few minutes of the film, it lays the ground work, almost immediately, of all the bad things that will happen because of Annabelle.
Second, I had always wondered what life must have been like for their kid, living in that house. All those artifacts locked in a room, but still right there. Granted this film isn’t based on “actual events” I liked the story they decided to go with, keeping it connected to Ed and Lorraine.
As far as the movie goes itself, I liked it. For me, it wasn’t The Conjuring great but of the three Annabelle films goes, this is my #2… the first one being the better. And I liked how first time director, Gary Dauberman, did things a little different than the other films. Gone were all the “jump scares”… although I like them, it was becoming the norm. There are a lot of moments where the tension builds and builds and gets you with a good flinch in your seat. I also like how he didn’t show too much of the evil entities for too long. You lose the scare factor when you do that, and I was pleased with what we got.
Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman and Katie Sarife were a good trio to carry this film. Katie’s character, Daniela, was my favorite, cause everything was her fault… LoL.
Even though there were a couple of things I didn’t care for in the film, and it didn’t raise the level of scariness, Annabelle Comes Home is still one that horror flick fans will enjoy. And maybe, just like me, try to guess the next spin-off that will come from all the evil artifacts we see.