Annabelle Comes Home Continues The Upward Trend Of The Series With Few Missteps

       The Annabelle franchise is one that has intrigued both audiences and critics with its continued improvement in quality as well as its dedication in regards to presenting a decent horror story and scaring its audience. The first Annabelle movie is one that not much praise can be directed towards, to put it quite frankly it sucked. The film was a mess and uninspired though it carried with it a concept that had potential. Annabelle: Creation took the concept of the first one and expanded on it while demonstrating stronger character development as well as an attention to detail in regards to cleverly building the suspense. The end result was a much stronger film than its predecessor as well as a signal that the trilogy is making a 180 turn. It also helps that the film is connected to the Conjuring films as well as last years The Nun making all the films a shared universe in the horror genre. With Annabelle Comes Home, the trilogy is now complete with the third film continuing the upward trend of the franchises quality even if its not as well-crafted as it's predecessor but remains close.

       The plot for Annabelle Comes Home centers around a pair of famous demonologists named the Warrens (Played by Watchman's Patrick Wilson and Bate's Motels Vera Farmiga), bringing a demon-possessed doll home and placing it in a locked room inside their paranormal museum. Despite being placed behind a glass case that's blessed by a Catholic priest, the doll still brings evil spirits into the room which brutally attack the couple's ten-year-old daughter (Played by McKenna Grace), as well as her babysitters (Played by Madison Iseman and Katie Sarife) after the latter unknowingly awaken its evil spirits. Annabelle Comes Homes plot is a clever one as it allows the story to remain grounded with the babysitters and daughter of the the Warrens, not only making the audience care about them but also steadily building up the suspense and tension allowing for the jump scares to have a strong impact when they do emerge. The Annabelle films, particularly the sequels, work to their fullest potential when they merge the demonic forces that run rampant in their stories with the elements of a traditional haunted house flick. The smartest element of the story which can also be said about the previous films, is the lack of character arc nor explanation for Annabelle. The audience doesn't know much about the doll or where it comes from which makes the whole scenario more mysterious and terrifying. Despite the lack of knowledge around Annabelle, she still remains the central focus of the story even when surrounded by the haunted artifacts that the Warren family possesses at their home. Annabelle's twisted superpower is both shown and used in full force here with her acting like a driving force to awake the other evil spirits in the room so they can terrify the main characters while wrecking havoc. Annabelle Comes Home plays off many of the traditional horror movie cliches yet still manages to create an experience for the audience that's both spooky and entertaining.

      As far as acting performances go, the main cast here does very well and turn in solid work making their characters scenarios completely convincing. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have minimal roles here but turn in consistent yet likable performances with their parts. The audience is already familiar with their characters from previous films with their main purpose here is setting up the rest of the film by bringing the creepy doll home and placing it in the glass container which the audience knows will inevitably get opened unintentionally. McKenna Grace does a very good job playing the Warrens ten-year old daughter Judy. Madison Iseman is likable as Judy's older sister Mary with Katie Sarife delivering a strong performance as Mary's best friend as well as Judy's babysitter Daniela despite her character coming across as being a typical and cliched teenage girl in a traditional horror movie. Her character falls into the category of one who knows she shouldn't do something yet ends up doing exactly that and unintentionally creating chaos for everyone with her characters cliches. Sarife plays the role very well both as a good friend to the Warrens as well as someone struggling to cope with their own troubled past that's revealed later in the story. The three actresses manage to work off each other very well while showing strong chemistry, allowing the audience to connect with them and care when the spooky moments arrive. Despite their characters not having much to do in the first part of the film with typical friends hanging out routine such as baking a cake and chilling around the house, they feel like real people and ones you want to see remain safe. Michael Cimino delivers a good performance as the persistent male love interest to Mary's character. An interesting yet cool observation with the main characters is the gender swap in the story as the female characters are the main characters with the male being the outsider in the story that gets pulled into the situation as well as the desirable love interest. In terms of chemistry, Cimino's character blends in with the rest of the cast with all the actors and actresses making for a strong ensemble.

      In terms of directing, Gary Dauberman does a notable and steady job directing this film especially when taking into consideration its his first directorial debut. Despite doing a good job handling his first major directing duty, the film itself isn't as well crafted as Annabelle: Creation in terms of setting up the tension and atmosphere. The jump scares despite being effective still aren't as strong as the previous film with the ones here consisting of ghostly figures randomly appearing in the shot a minute before disappearing. The strongest aspect of Dauberman's directing is when the films horror elements kick in about halfway through the film with the first half struggling with moving slow in regards to setting up the films central characters. As a screenwriter, Dauberman is skilled in developing young characters that the audience grow to care about before they face an unimaginable evil. The character of Daniela is given a tragic backstory involving grief that really adds to her character as well as explaining her reasoning for wanting to see the objects in the mysterious room. Her desire to look for closure and make amends for her own guilt in regards to her fathers passing is ultimately what ends up being her characters gravest mistake despite being a moving subplot. The films plot with the young women unintentionally unleashing an evil force almost comes across as a twisted version of Jumanji (Its a more obvious comparison when you realize the fact both stories happen with no parents around for most of the film) except in the form of a horror film with a twisted doll that gives Chucky a run for his money. The film truly comes alive when nighttime arrives and the evil forces are released once Annabelle is freed from her glass case. It is here that Dauberman's skill as a director goes into full effect along with his ability to create such strong characters. Whereas most horror films pack on the blood and gore once the terror starts, Annabelle Comes Home trades gore for brains and creativity using items, props and jump scares to freak out the audience even using a Warewolf.

      From where the franchise first started, the Annabelle set of films continues to improve both the story as well as the trilogy as a whole from where it first began. The first Annabelle was an uninspired mess with a concept, that was expanded better with the sequels. Out of the three movies, Annabelle: Creation stands out as being the strongest in quality as that film felt tighter in terms of being well put together. The tension and scares were handled extremely well shifting the quality of the Annabelle films from what audiences saw previously. Annabelle Comes Home never manages to top the standard set by the second film as its not as well directed, but it stands right behind it in terms of being a worthy film in the latter part of the series. One wonders how much stronger the film would've been if David F. Sandberg returned to direct this film while Dauberman remained as writer. With him writing the Annabelle films as well as the recent Stephen King IT movies, George Dauberman almost feels like he's picked up the horror mantle from Kevin Williamson in regards to creating terrifying horror stories set around young teenage characters. What saved this film from majorly disappointing are the strong main characters along with the fact that this film had a vision that was effectively carried out. Perhaps the next installment should bring in a more experienced director to improve the films uneven pacing as the beginning moved slowly until the night scenes appeared. If you're a fan of the first two Annabelle's or lets say you didn't enjoy the first one but liked the second, then you will most likely enjoy this film though feel it has some of the issues that were mentioned here. Regardless of those flaws, its quite impressive how the series has improved in quality from the messy first installment, expanding on its story while improving its mood and scares. All one has to say upon finishing this movie is that Annabelle is one creepy doll that's not to be taken lightly.

Final Verdict: Worth a Redbox Rental