'Annabelle Comes Home' is Scarily Familiar

We are living in a world where cinematic universes are already common that it has found its way even in the world of ghosts and spirits. We now have what we call The Conjuring universe, which just a few months ago, released another spinoff in The Curse of La Llorona. In all fairness, the films and spinoffs that came out of this franchise by James Wan seem planned from the get-go as evident by the clues and integrated Easter eggs that connect each one to the other. I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming The Conjuring 3 will be their version of Endgame, with the demonic doll Annabelle--dubbed in this film as the beacon of evil spirits--being their Thanos. And now with Annabelle Comes Home, it's definitely a set-up for, hopefully, an epic outcome.

Warner Bros. Pictures

 Annabelle Comes Home begins with an extreme close-up pop-up of the sinister ragged doll--still creepy despite having been acquainted by its several spinoffs. Behind her are demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (reprised by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) planning to keep her away from wreaking more havoc by locking her in a sacred glass among a myriad of haunted artifacts in their own home. This and their expertise make it look like everything will be fine, but when they leave their only daughter alone, with a nanny and an inquisitive friend, Annabelle is once again awakened, and all the other evil spirits follow.

There are a lot of scary things in Annabelle Comes Home. It's undocked with all the horror set pieces we've previously seen in the franchise, regenerated with new demonic ghosts, characters and a slice-of-night format. Almost the entirety of horror in the film happened overnight, and while goofy and slightly uneventful, it hasn't lost its ability to scare.

But with its repetitive tactics, their formula is becoming the scariest of all. First-time director Gary Dauberman, who also wrote the story, sticks with what the other Conjuring movies thrived on--making the most out of small room doors, walls, mirrors and windows to create horror, excessive use of smoke, lady ghosts wearing veils, etc.--that his work pales in comparison to the franchise's earlier output.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Dauberman's central characters don't help either. Horror films are commonplace for frustrating characters but some have sensible reasons behind their actions. First, in a house filled with evil objects, it's completely irresponsible to leave it with youngsters. In this case, even the most disciplined character love to snoop in so there goes one root cause of how things can go wrong. There's a little room for sense in their actions and to say it's frustrating is a bit of an understatement, especially when we talk about the above-mentioned inquisitive friend, whose personal intention makes her the culprit of why unnecessary things happened in the Warren household.

The plethora of evil spirits are definitely rejoicing with joy because of the characters' sheer negligence. And speaking of them, the objects they possess are characters in itself. Among the additional items playing key roles in this story are a piano; a bride; a ferryman corpse with coins and a pouch; a Victorian mourning bracelet; a weather vane; a Philco Predicta television; a Feeley Meeley game; a Remington typewriter; a cuckoo clock; a floor model radio; a rattlesnake; a telegraph; and a mariner’s compass. Believe it or not, each of these has its own airtime terrorizing the characters. I'm pretty sure we're going to see them again in the future.

Clearly, Annabelle Comes Home is contented in being familiar. It has worked for the franchise for so many years, and their fans continue to dig anything new that they have to offer. The risk of being repetitive, however, will always be there. And it's only a matter of time to determine if it will work for them or not.