Movie title: Annabelle comes home
Release Date: 2019
Type of movie: Horror movie
MPAA Rating: R
Our rating: 9/10
Re-watchability: 6/10
Let me start by saying, I am a huge fan of horror movies! As you may have been able to surmise from my blog already, where I have reviewed multiple horror shows. I am also absolutely terrified of dolls. I have been since I was six years old. I am so terrified of dolls, that I refuse to sleep in the same room as one. That is probably because I watched Child’s Play when I was way too young for horror movies. Child’s play was the first horror movie I ever watched, and it may have launched this obsession with horror films and my standard for them. This review will not be about the new Child’s Play release, but it is about another in the doll horror franchise — Annabelle Comes Home.
This movie just came out, so I went to see it as soon as it hit theaters in Lexington. Here are a few background issues regarding the Annabelle franchise that people might not know. These were changed to make Annabelle seem scarier on screen. Annabelle the doll is a haunted object in the Warren’s occult museum. She sits in a box that says, positively do not open under any circumstances. That should give anyone pause right there. Occult museum. Cursed object. Do not open. Annabelle the doll; however, is not the doll portrayed in the movie. That Annabelle doll is a Raggedy Ann in real life. She is incredibly haunted and is believed by paranormal investigators to be one of the most haunted objects in the world, if not the most haunted object in the world. On the outside, Annabelle doesn’t look very scary or demonic because she is just a doll.
Annabelle came to exist because a group of nursing students wanted to help what they thought was a lost spirit by giving this doll to that spirit that haunts their home. It turns out, the spirit was neither lost nor human, and Annabelle becomes possessed by this demonic spirit that wants to take over one of the nursing student’s bodies. The whole demonic possession began when the doll started moving and leaving messages for the nursing students to find around their house. Those events actually followed a story based on real life. All that makes the Annabelle initial movie extremely creepy.
Now, in the movie Annabelle comes home, the plot line doesn’t follow a real-life story beyond the cursed nature of this doll. It takes some liberties with the doll itself (no longer a Raggedy Ann doll) and begins to imagine what could happen if Annabelle the doll was ever released from her glass case in Warren’s occult museum. This movie focuses on just events that happen in the Warren’s house when Annabelle is let out of her prison. This movie depicts Annabelle as a beacon for other spirits and shows that they are attracted to Annabelle the doll. In real life, investigations with the real Annabelle doll there is heightened paranormal activity when the doll is around. Whether that implies additional spirits or just supernatural phenomena associated with Annabelle, I can’t say, but it’s probably dramatized for the movie.
Annabelle Comes Home is a movie rooted in the occult universe. Given that it is in this universe of movies, I believe that there will be more movies to come after Annabelle. There are endless possibilities that arise when thinking about Annabelle, which conceptually isn’t too different from the Child’s Play and Chucky doll movies. Annabelle Comes Home gives you all the jump scares, and all the “Oh My God” moments you could want from a great horror movie. There were plenty of screams from other people in the theater even though the theater wasn’t packed, which if you are like me, I enjoyed almost as much. It clearly means, I am not alone in being afraid. Annabelle Comes Home is a great movie driven by unknown occult evil forces. Since most people cannot imagine the dark evil that exists in the occult universe, or truly understand what drives it or how to control or stop it, that makes the whole idea of Annabelle scary by itself. Throw in some unexpected horror and unanticipated fear and you have the perfect formula for a horror movie.
In closing, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie from start to finish. I didn’t (couldn’t) use the restroom because I was too afraid to leave my seat and miss something. Annabelle Comes Home gives us a break from Hollywood’s obsession with re-makes. I know this movie is not for everyone, particularly those who don’t like to be scared out of their skin. However, I found this movie to be very entertaining and enjoyable (if scary as heck). Being scared is a part of life, so even though I remain terrified of dolls, I still made it through this movie and alive so I could review it for all of you. I hope my review has been informative and makes you either want to go see this movie, or helps you make the decision if you want to skip it altogether. I enjoyed this movie enough to see it again, even if not in theaters. If you want a really good scare, this movie will provide it to you.
Thank you for reading.
Jason
