About the film (courtesy of Warner Bros.):
Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her “safely” behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens’ ten-year-old daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace), and her friends.
You know what dawned on me just now while writing this? For a horror franchise, and I’m speaking of the entire The Conjuring Universe, there’s not a lot of onscreen death. Chances are that the majority of characters, if not all, will make it through the entire movie relatively unharmed. From that perspective, it’s too predictable and diminishes the effect of suspenseful and thrilling moments. You can only walk this path for so long before people, in this case paying fans, will start to revolt by skipping these movies altogether. Annabelle Comes Home has reached this point and I’m betting the box office numbers will reflect it.
I’m sure Warner Bros. will stand to make a profit off of this spin-off sequel, or however you’d categorize it, because hopeful horror fans are some of the most optimistic people I’ve ever seen. Well, at least until they’re not and that’s where Annabelle Comes Home is slowly heading. The budget for this feature had to be small with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson having so little screen time. This should allow a lot of leeway it what can billed as successful by the time the dust settles.
Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife and Michael Cimino are the four young actors that Annabelle Comes Home mostly centers around. While their performances are decent, one can’t help but feel like you’re watching an ABC Family Halloween special. Despite its R-rating for horror violence and terror, the content is fairly tame. There are a couple of pulse-pounding moments, generously speaking, but this would have been better served with a more deserving PG-13 tag slapped on it. This way, expectations could have been properly formulated. Most will probably feel bamboozled by the restricted rating because they will assume that they’re in store for some spine-stiffening chills.
Whether it’s a case of too little too late or simply an uninteresting story line, Annabelle Comes Home does not live up to expectations and looks to be a franchise that’s grasping desperately for ideas. Lacking originality and filled with gimmicky jump scares, the book probably just needs to be closed on this uninteresting chapter. Save your viewing time for other, more deserving offerings and MAYBE check this one out when it hits VOD or premium cable channels in a few short months.
