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Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Blu-ray Disc Released: 10/8/2019

All Ratings out of

Movie: ½

Video:

Audio:

Extras: ½

Review by Mike Long, Posted on 10/1/2019

"The Conjureverse” may be one of the oddest assortment of films ever.  (Before we get to that, kudos once again to James Wan and co. for having the guts to release a series of horror movies which have interconnected stories, but aren’t simply the typical sequels.)  The six films which we’ve gotten thus far have represented not only a diverse group of stories, but they’ve delivered a varied level of quality as well.  Some are very good, while others are pretty bad, with most being somewhere in the middle.  (But, none of them are as good as Insidious, so, there’s that.)  One of the more interesting aspects of these movies is that they are all set in the past, and we get another does of groovy nostalgia with Annabelle Comes Home.

Annabelle Comes Home takes place after the opening scene in The Conjuring, in which Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) first acquire Annabelle, the doll which acts as a conduit for evil spirits.  The two psychic investigators take Annabelle to their home and place her in a locked glass cabinets within their room of supernatural curiosities.  Following this, The Warrens are called away on another case, so they leave their young daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace) in the care of Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman).  While Mary Ellen has plans to make her stay with Judy as normal as possible, her best friend, Daniela (Katie Sarife), has other ideas.  After inviting herself over, she makes her way into the room of damned items, and accidentally activates Annabelle.  Soon, the house is being overrun by evil entities who are insisting on trapping and terrifying the girls.

The first Annabelle film was a (sort of) stand-alone movie which explained what the doll was up to in the 1960s.  Annabelle: Creation (a highly underrated movie) went back even further.  Both of these films were clearly tied into The Conjureverse, but could work on their own.  Annabelle Comes Home plays more like The Conjuring 2 ½, as it involves Annabelle, but also brings in The Warrens in an active role (sort of, more on that in a moment).  Both The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 took actual events from The Warren’s files and put them on-screen.  I seem to remember reading somewhere that we would see further adventures of The Warrens in future films.  (And, indeed, The Conjuring 3 is slated for next year.)  Again, Annabelle Comes Home plays an odd hybrid, as it features Annabelle, but it also brings several items from The Warrens to the forefront, presenting us with a movie which doesn’t seem sure what it wants to be.  It could be presumed that this isn’t a true entry of The Conjuring series, as Ed and Lorraine only appear at the beginning and ending.

Instead, what we gets feels much more akin to Goosebumps 2, as the movie features a menagerie of evil spirits instead of focusing on just one baddie.  That comparison refers not only to content, but to tone as well.  There are some creepy moments here, but I’m still not sure why Annabelle Comes Home is rated R.  And the inclusion of juvenile characters reinforces a feel which certainly differs from other movies in this series.  (Yes, there were kids in Annabelle: Creation, but that movie had a much more mature slant.)

All of those things aside, Annabelle Comes Home is a solid horror movie.  The movie is decidedly a slow-burn.  There is a good jump scare in the opening scene, but following that, we get a solid hour of character and atmosphere building.  However, the movie gets pretty bonkers during the third act, as the monsters infiltrate the house and terrorize the kids.  There are some creepy moments here, especially with the victims of “The Ferryman”.  We also gets some clever things, such as a classic (and very obscure) board game and a film projector, which become a part of the supernatural doings.  The action isn’t as intense as some of the other films in the series, but it doesn’t pull any punches either. 

Screenwriter Gary Dauberman gets his first crack at directing here and he does a good job.  There is nothing truly new and daring, but, again, the movie is solid and is certainly better than The Nun or The Curse of La Llorona.  Props (no pun intended) should also go to the production designers, as the early 70s feel seems authentic.  As usual, Annabelle herself is the weak link here, as we are once again reminded that the doll doesn’t actually do anything.  The lack of a walking & talking doll aside, Annabelle Comes Home separates itself from the other films in the series, playing as more of a true haunted house movie.  It’s easy to see why some fans won’t like it, but for me, it was just different enough to warrant a recommendation.

Annabelle Comes Home burns the cake on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.  The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 27 Mbps.  The image is very sharp and clear, showing on notable grain and no defects from the source materials.  The colors look very good, making the 70s tones more noticeable, and the image is never overly dark or bright (despite the fact that this is a dark film).  The level of detail is good and the depth works well.  The Disc carries a Dolby Atmos audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps.  The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects.  The audio is very important here, as the bulk of the film deals with strange sounds coming from various parts of the house.  These noises fill the rear and front channels, providing information on where they’re coming from.  The “shock” scenes deliver palpable subwoofer effects which certainly add to the atmosphere.

The Annabelle Comes Home Blu-ray Disc contains a few extra features.  “Behind the Scenes” offers three segments, each of which focuses on a different bad guy: “Part 1: The Ferryman/Demon” (5 minutes) focuses on actor Alexander Ward who plays two monsters; “Part 2: The Bloody Bride” (3 minutes) has Natalia Safran discussing her character; and “Part 3: The Werewolf” (3 minutes) has Dauberman discussing how the idea of the werewolf came about.  “The Artifact Room and the Occult” (5 minutes) takes us inside the haunted room to see how some of the props were made.  “The Light and the Love” (4 minutes) focuses on Wilson and Farmiga and their roles as The Warrens.  The Disc contains seven DELETED SCENES which run about 11 minutes. 

Review Copyright 2019 by Mike Long