Despite the fact that I never believed in the so-called real-life “paranormal investigators” whose adventures they were based on, I still greatly enjoyed the two Conjuring films that were directed by James Wan. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson were extremely engaging as the husband and wife ghost/demon hunting team from those two films, and when I heard that they were coming back in Annabelle Comes Home (the title makes this sound like a TV movie on the Lifetime Network--“Annabelle Comes Home, To Find Love!”), I was eager to see this film whenever it came out.
It turned out that Annabelle actually Came Home last year, in 2019, and I completely missed it. But, considering the multitude of real-life horrors--both personal and public--that 2020 would eventually present to us, I think can be excused for not catching this film in a timely fashion. Once I finally did see Annabelle Comes Home, I was immediately struck at how Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson only appeared at the beginning and very end of the film in a framing device.
Once the Warrens take off to do whatever, the real story that emerges here is their young daughter, Judy (very well played by Mckenna Grace) and her babysitters Mary (Madison Iseman) and Daniela (Katie Sarfie)--both actresses are also very good--battling hordes of demonic forces in a story that very weirdly feels like The Brady Bunch meets The Exorcist. And you know what? It actually works very nicely.
In their investigations into the other worldly, the Warrens bring home some weird and scary shit that they keep locked in a special room of their house. Their most recent acquisition is the Annabelle doll, which is a demonic little bugger of such immense power that it must be kept behind the sacred glass of a holy roller display box. One could wonder why these two would dare to keep all the demons of hell in their own house, where their young daughter sleeps, but if the Warrens did the right thing and kept this stuff out of their home, then we wouldn’t have a movie, now, would we?
But thanks to writer/director Gary Dauberman, the adventures of Judy, Mary, and Daniela turn out to be just as entertaining and scary as those of the Warrens, with Daniela being the one who tries to contact her dead father by entering the forbidden room. Those of us who know what it’s like to lose a loved one can’t really blame poor Daniela for her actions; she really meant no harm, and still winds up battling the demons and ghosts that she unleashed right alongside the others. And Michael Cimino is also good as the hapless suitor of Mary who finds himself instead immersed in an ungodly war against the minions of hell (and he provides some good bits of comedy).
The reason why Annabelle Comes Home works so well for me is that while it treats its premise with seriousness, the movie’s still not afraid to have some fun with the concept as well. It’s rated-R, but could easily have gotten a PG-13 rating and still would have worked very well. It’s enjoyably scary without being too gory. While it’s not technically a part of the Conjuring series--it’s an Annabelle flick--Annabelle Comes Home could still be enjoyed with the James Wan-directed Conjuring films as one big, happy demonic family. --SF
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