Annabelle Comes Home

Super-creepy doll Annabelle was introduced in The Conjuring to help explain the line of work that Ed and Lorraine Warren were in (demonology and witchcraft investigations). In this third entry in the spin-off series of Annabelle films, we get to pick up right where her introduction in The Conjuring left off: her car ride to the Warrens’ home. And it’s a frightening car ride. In fact, the whole damn movie is scary. If you haven’t seen the previous two movies in the series, you could still get on board with the story pretty easily. Annabelle is a conduit to other dark entities and gets a special place in the Warren’s room of cursed objects. Since the room is blessed once a week, locking her up in their house seems safe enough, right? All is well until Ed and Lorraine (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles) go away for the night and leave their daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace) with a babysitter. The babysitter Mary Ellen is one of Judy’s only friends now that the whole neighborhood has discovered how her parents pay the rent. Mary Ellen goes against her better judgement, and the Warrens’ explicit instructions, and lets a friend come over and spend the evening with her. What could possibly go wrong in this scenario? Well, of course it does, and we get to bathe in the terror of their experience. There are plenty of chilling images and intense jump scares. In fact, the audience I saw it with was screaming at the slightest sound or movement. I thought this was the scariest entry in the trilogy, so far at least. Go see it in a packed theater for the best experience.

[R]