Annabelle Comes Home: Review

It’s hard to believe, but the original The Conjuring only came out six years ago, yet we’re now on the seventh film in the franchise. It’s the third instalment of the Annabelle sub-franchise, and the biggest yet – however, despite a strong cast and a few decent frights, it proves too big at points, detracting from the overall experience. If you enjoy jump-scare horrors, though, this film does deliver.

The films in the Conjuring universe have always benefited from strong character work and likeable leads, and Annabelle Comes Home is no different

In 1968, Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) bring the Annabelle doll to their home – after an incident on the drive back, they decide to seal the doll away to contain the evil. Four years later, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) comes to their house to babysit their young daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace). Her friend Daniela (Katie Sarife) arrives uninvited and, curious about speaking to the dead, decides to head into the Warrens’ artefact room and begins touching the items. But, when she accidentally leaves Annabelle’s glass case unlocked, her spirit escapes, and releases more spirits for a night of terror.

The films in the Conjuring universe have always benefited from strong character work and likeable leads, and Annabelle Comes Home is no different. Despite the trailers hyping up Wilson and Farmiga’s presence, they’re barely in the film (they bookend the picture, but you’ve maybe got five minutes of them). This is a bit of a shame, but the central trio of actresses are really enjoyable. You’ve a sense of the protective duty Mary Ellen feels towards her charge, and Daniela’s pain at the death of her father, and that makes you care for them (there’s also Grace, a child actress who is really good).

Your tolerance for this film will really depend on your tolerance for jump-scares

It’s good that you identify with the characters, because there’s not much of an atmosphere. These Conjuring films have always been about jump-scares first and foremost, and your tolerance for this film will really depend on your tolerance for jump-scares. Some of them are really effective (a sequence in which Mary Ellen follows coins towards a monster, which is not nearly as stupid as it sounds). Some, though, are markedly less so – seeing a nice figure, whose face suddenly turns monstrous as the music gets louder, for example. Frequently, the dark spaces in the Warrens’ house are far scarier in themselves than anything you may find in them.

There’s also a feeling that the film is attempting to lay the groundwork for future instalments in the franchise. The films like to introduce a side spirit, and then give them a spin-off, but there’s so much going on here. Although the title suggests that the Annabelle doll will be the main focus of the film, it’s mainly an excuse to summon other ghosts (because, as the films insist on telling us, it’s just a conduit for evil). You’ve got a demon bride, the Ferryman (a sinister guy with coins on its eyes), cursed samurai armour, an evil board game, a cursed TV, a ghost priest, a horned demon – even a spirit which is, to all intents and purposes, a werewolf. The film is just over an hour and a half long, and it packs in a lot, to varying degrees of success.

Annabelle Comes Home boasts some good frights, but it’s perhaps a bit too bloated for its own good

I enjoyed Annabelle Comes Home but, despite some great set-pieces, I didn’t find it overly scary. By now, you know exactly what these films are like – if you don’t like them, this one is not going to change your mind. If you do, you’ll find a lot to like here, but then you’ll also find a lot in general. Annabelle Comes Home boasts some good frights, but it’s perhaps a bit too bloated for its own good.