Search

Search only in certain items:

Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
2019 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Gary Dauberman
Writer: Gary Dauberman (Screenplay) James Wan (Story)
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee
 
Plot: While babysitting the daughter of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a teenager and her friend unknowingly awaken an evil spirit trapped in a doll.

Tagline – The Next Chapter In The Conjuring Universe
Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
 
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
 
Verdict: Relentless Scares
 
Story: Annabelle Comes Home starts one year after the Warren’s Ed (Wilson) and Lorraine (Farmiga) bring the Annabelle doll home, knowing its power to control the other items inside their blessed room. With Ed and Lorraine going on a business trip, it leaves their daughter Judy (Grace) with girl next door babysitter Mary Ellen (Iseman), who has planned a little birthday surprise.
When Mary Ellen’s best friend Daniela (Sarife) decides to visit, with questions about the house, getting a moment alone, she sneaks into the blessed room, only to unleash a host of evil upon the three for a night of terror, all thanks to the dreaded Annabelle doll.
 
Thoughts on Annabelle Comes Home
 
Characters – Judy Warren is the daughter of the famous paranormal investigators, she is treated differently at school because of this, with some students being scared, while others just bully her, she does see spirits too and is a shy little girl, she just wants to make friends like any young girl and is struggling with the fact nobody will be her friend except her babysitter Mary Ellen. She does know how to handle herself when hauntings start happening around her house though. Mary Ellen is the girl next door babysitter, she might well be worried about who will take her to homecoming, but she is a friend that Judy needs. Daniela Rios is the best friend of Mary Ellen, she invites herself over to look around, in hopes that she could find a way to connect with her deceased father, whose death was an accident, but she believes was her fault, she unleashes all the evil items on the household, which would make her truly horrible, until you add in the reason why she is trying to find forgiveness. Ed and Lorraine are the familiar faces, only they are basically extended cameos in the film. Bob is the love interest of Mary Ellen and he does through the generic awkward moments of trying to ask her out, he is good for a laugh too.
Performances – McKenna Grace takes over the role of the daughter, she does make us believe that her character has become distant from the world around her, makes us believe she is feeling lonely and isolated too. Madison Iseman makes for an easy pick for the babysitter, she comes off friendly and gives the scream level required to show the fear. Katie Sarife is strong as friend who unleashes everything, somehow making a character we could hate feel sympathy towards. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson do seem to be here as a draw, only they are barely even in the film.
Story – The story here follows a babysitter’s friend visiting the Warren’s house who unleashes all the evil from the safety, only for the three girls needing to put a halt to this before they can become the latest victims of the curses they have. This story does have a few positives and negatives, the first positive being see how the daughter of the Warren’s is struggling with making connections in life because of their work, we could have easily dived deeper with this, but it was nice to see a change in why somebody is isolated. The pure number of different evil figures we meet through the film is brilliant to see because this opens the doors to seemingly endless amounts of spin off movies now, which could be seen as a negative because, while this is an Annabelle movie, it does tend to focus on the other evil, instead of the main one attached to Annabelle. We could get into character decisions, which aren’t the smartest especially when it comes to knowing who the character of Judy is meant to be.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in the film, is an endless amounts of jump scares, this does work because each does have its own way of being effective, even if a lot if music goes silent and either a boom or something charging the screen. The mystery comes from each new evil that we get to see, we get glimpses into a few leading us to only want to know more.
Settings – The film is set in one singular location, the Warren house, this has all the evil set up within it, which means once it comes out and traps them, they don’t know what will come next.
Special Effects – The effect in the film are strong throughout, with each creation look different, with a couple of tricks for the Ferryman coming off nicely.

Scene of the Movie – The circular shot, I am a fan of this shot even if it was the same as the Nun.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – I can’t help but think one of the rules for babysitting at the Warren’s, would be, anything slightly strange happens, get out until we come home.
Final Thoughts – This is a nice jump scare filled horror, it has plenty of references to the previous films and does leave us wanting more from this universe.
 
Overall: Jump scares for everyone.
Rating
  
The Vampire went to Georgia
The Vampire went to Georgia
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really have to say that as much as I loved this book and this series, that I found the final battle a little anticlimactic. I was really hoping for more, and even though I did hope for more, I wasn't entirely disappointed. In this 216 page book, I think I cried for a third of it. I have to say that even with a few things I would have loved to see differently, that the overall book was amazing.



First, to see everything that we only got glimpses at before to unfold, was amazing. To learn how some of the characters who seemed to just be filler to hold such an important role in saving the world was truly inspiring. I think my favorite part was learning how Death himself had changed because of Pandora and her lover, as well as how Scarlett and Tenebris were stronger in this world together than Tenebris had been in other worlds by herself. I have to say that the love that Death had for his daughters Scarlett and Tenebris. had been touching and surprisingly difficult to understand when he was asking so much from them. But it wasn't just his love that made you smile and feel all warm and fuzzy, it was the love of all those around them as well. To willingly sacrifice yourself for someone is a huge deal and there were plenty of sacrificing in this book that kept your heart bleeding. However, I have to say, it was what definitely made me not want to stop reading.



This kind of thing reminds me of a saying that states if you love someone truly, then you have to be willing to let go of them. Everyone in this book had loved Scarlett so much, they were willing to do whatever it took, even if it broke her down to nothing. I hated seeing her hurt that way but the strength while dealing with it all and how she was determined to be strong and prove what everyone was saying in times to be false, was just truly amazing. Even though I felt like my own heart was being ripped out, I could see how all the betrayals and pains of the previous books helped her cope and deal with the impending battle, whether or not that I felt she deserved any of it.



Even though love and romance was spread through the series, the romance was heavily lacked in this book. Which made is extremely serious. Though you knew who loved who and it was stated in their appropriate times, the book just didn't have all the romantic drama the others had. It seemed to be too serious at times and I would have loved some comedy or that romantic air to it to help break up all the seriousness that the book seemed to drag on about. Not saying the seriousness ruined the book. It just seemed to end slightly anticlimactic compared to what you were being led to believe would happen. Which would have to be the biggest complaint I had. This next part WILL have spoilers and I apologize for that, but it may save you from feeling let down. If you don't wish to read the spoilers, you can skip to the final paragraph.



When you first learn of how War and Scarlett and Tenebris are connected and how there will be a battle between War nd Scarlett, who is the shell that holds Tenebris and ground the chaotic being, you find yourself excited for the battle. However, at the end, during the face off, Death grants the girls one last gift and suddenly War just pretty much gives up. Don't get me wrong, if I had to fight the dragon Scarlett and Tenebris transformed into, I would be ready to throw in the towel, but still, Tenebris was supposed to be War's right hand woman and to see her standing by Death should have been the rage enough to lead that woman into battle. This is War after all. But no the Horseman pretty much just gives up and allows herself to die. To me, not having the battle and making it end in such a way was disheartening and I am quite upset over it. I was moved to tears all the way up until this point and now I can't even get the action I felt I needed to be okay with the prior actions of characters. Needless to say, the fight scene wasn't all that it could have been.



I would rate this book 3 stars out of 5 stars because as much as I loved crying at certain parts and we were able to learn more about a few of the beloved characters and so on, the ending wasn't all that it was chalked up to be. It was a huge let down, in my opinion. The series overall was amazing and besides the ending I would just make a few changes, like maybe adding the novellas into the books that they belong before or after, instead of leaving a note before a book about a novella being needed for that book. And maybe making the ending have slightly more action. I would rate the series overall, 4 stars out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone into the paranormal romance and adventure scene with a bit of mystery in it.