Annabelle Comes Home

Annabelle Comes Home

James Wan’s 2013 horror movie “The Conjuring” opened with these words before it called upon its own time-spanning cinematic universe of cursed objects and malevolent spirits. They’re spoken by a pair of young nurses who are being haunted by Annabelle, the collector’s item doll that also serves as one of the most terrifying horror movies of the 21st Century a bizarrely compelling possessed doll eventually aiming to possess human spirit, which was taken by a sinister presence.

The case of 1968 served as our isolated introduction to Ed and Lorraine Warren (played throughout the series with spiritual conviction by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), a religious paranormal investigating duo who kept evil behind their room of ominous conduits until “The Conjuring” had even begun. As per Ed Warren, it’s better just to keep the genie in the bottle than destroy the doll.

I know, this context reads like homework that’s because most summaries of “something-something universe” do. But it is an important set up for “Annabelle Comes Home,” latest franchise spinoff and only sufficiently creepy one since some years after those nurses got rid of it. It is in fact surprising that it took nearly half a dozen sequels and underwhelming byproducts like “The Curse of La Llorona” or “The Nun” to show us what happened when the Warrens added another item into their growing family of locked away demons; in some ways, this is actually chronological “Annabelle” movie you secretly wanted while watching “The Conjuring.” If only half-baked story could also meet our expectations, or at least match logic of previous two “Annabelle” films.

This installment from first-time director Gary Dauberman (the screenwriter behind other two Annabelle movies) picks up exactly where opening scene left off in “The Conjuring”. After an eventful car ride that announces severity of Annabelle’s menace, Warrens decide to keep doll in a blessed glass case at their residence away from eyes and ears of their precocious 10-year old daughter Judy (played by “Gifted” actress Mckenna Grace with soulful astuteness beyond her years), who is a totally normal kid considering the circumstances. I mean, who amongst us would have turned out okay if we were raised in a haunted house by demonologist parents who were constantly making headlines? Still gets bullied at school all same though can’t even recruit enough friends to come to birthday party.

But Judy seems to have lucked out with her babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) while most kids are just mean to her, this charming teenager happily signs on for task of looking after troubled kid while Warrens take off on an overnight trip. A gifted clairvoyant like her mother (she even gets own “I see dead people” scene), Judy appears unusually mature about death and afterlife at least enough so that she might be able to help Mary Ellen’s firebrand of a friend Daniela (Katie Sarife), whose wounds about deceased father still haven’t healed. If only that were enough for Daniela; her pain turns out to be so deep that she’s one who sneaks into forbidden room of artifacts in order communicate with him, only waking up whatever’s inside Annabelle in process.

Together with his cinematographer Michael Burgess, Dauberman promptly fills every corner of the Warren house for maximum creepiness naturally, the best-choreographed scenes are in the artifact room and still, for all the fun of hanging out with a squad of girls surviving a sleepover fright fest, “Annabelle Comes Home” doesn’t push any scare envelopes beyond creaky floorboards and teased horrors kept just off camera only to jump out seconds later at generic “gotcha!” moments.

But really what’s missing here is a sincere story. Because how did Daniela get in there? No, really: Her initial break into the forbidden room that’s marked with multiple warning signs followed by opening Annabelle’s case labeled with a huge “Positively Do Not Open” note makes no sense. We hardly understand how someone could be that fearless on a dare; we barely even feel for her reasons to put everyone in danger.

And yet it’s also not like she gets to be smart about any of this. The script (also by Dauberman, from a story by Wan) doesn’t give her that much credit. Most of what Daniela does and survives is so senselessly obtuse it begs the question why can’t she just ask them to safely initiate contact with her father, if it can be done at all?

Still there are guilty pleasures ahem, Bob! buried inside “Annabelle Comes Home.” The “Conjuring” universe has always had top-notch period costuming ; Leah Butler’s skillful designs tiptoe around early ’70s transitional to great effect here. And Dauterman knows how important wacky humor is to this franchise; he injects most of it through a brashly lovable boy named Bob (Michael Cimino), who has such an intense crush on Mary Ellen that he pledges himself to survive his own little corner of horrors.

Eventually, Dauterman gets to a genuinely sweet point with the rounding out of different female coming-of-age stories. But “Annabelle Comes Home” suggests it’s maybe time to put this genie back in the bottle and close out this particular creepy doll series already.

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