This film manages to set up tension nicely. The cinematography is solid and the score is on point. Stylistically, this film felt more similar to the two 'Conjuring' films than it did to the previous two 'Annabelle' films. This isn't just because of the presence of the Warren's, although they did help elevate the movie. It's because this film used the house, and the artifacts within, to great effect, I particularly liked that scene where the mirror shows you a little into the future, I thought it was a great scene and concept. The jump scares are quite effective. In terms of the acting, Wilson and Farmiga are great in their few scenes. I wish they'd played a bigger role here, but hopefully it shouldn't be too long till we see the Warrens again in their own movie. The main characters are the three girls, all of which I thought were decent and likable enough.

The first thing you'll probably notice is just how much better 'Annabelle Comes Home (2019)' is, immediately, than 'The Nun (2018)', 'The Curse Of La Llorona (2019)' and its oft-forgotten predecessor, 'Annabelle (2014)'. I mean, it seems like a masterpiece in comparison to those; it's actually engaging, features a variety of successful scares and centres around compelling characters. However, the second thing you'll probably notice is just how much worse it is than 'The Conjuring (2013)', 'The Conjuring 2 (2016)' and, even, 'Annabelle: Creation (2017)'. That's because its plot is incredibly slim - I'm talking almost anecdotal - and it starts to wear thin far faster than it, perhaps, ought to. As such, the piece ends up somewhere in the middle, quality-wise, of the overall 'Conjuring' franchise; it's by no means bad but it's certainly not great, either. Thankfully, though, it's a decently enjoyable, competently constructed experience throughout. The reason for this is, I feel, two-fold. Firstly, its characters - on whom it relies solely because its plot is almost non-existent - are mostly well-rounded and believable. One of them does make some odd decisions that aren't explained until long after they've been made and, even then, don't stand up to all that much scrutiny. Still, this isn't too detrimental and the development done for all the main players is serviceable enough, with some of it actually going a long way to plugging the potential leaks caused by those previously mentioned poor choices. Plus, everyone on screen is, essentially, as likeable as they could be. Unfortunately, they aren't quite interesting enough to keep you wholly engaged during the movie's slower segments. It has a really strange, somewhat disjointed pacing that practically paints most of it as an extended build-up for a seemingly fifteen-minute finale. Luckily, then, it's competent when it comes to the second 'fold' of that two-fold reason I mentioned earlier: the scares. While there's nothing outstanding here, it's also not just jump-scare central. There are are variety of occasionally quite inspired gags that often play on audience expectation, building up genuine suspense that isn't deflated every two minutes by an obnoxious 'false' fright. It does sometimes get a little too overt for its own good - though, the overall series is no stranger to bold, effects-based 'creatures', either - but it's refreshing, and sadly so, for a film like this to not be made of abrasive, repetitive, 'cattle-prod' stuff. Generally, the flick is a fairly fun time. Sure, it wears thin and is only ever so compelling in the first place, but it's a solid haunted house - literally and figuratively - that will certainly satisfy fans of the franchise. 6/10

Another moneymaker in the cash cow ANNABELLE series, this time made on the cheap and with an unknown cast. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga show up for wraparound cameos but for the most part this is a kid's/young adult adventure in which a trio of young 'uns find themselves spending the night with the creepy doll. Annabelle doesn't actually feature too much here, instead we get the usual CGI demons popular from the CONJURING and INSIDIOUS films. It's obviously been made in a hurry and I found it a complete mess, join the dots plotting early on giving way to messy and repetitive jump scares later. Quite the embarrassment, this one...