A feckless teenager (Katie Sarife) comes face-to-face with a creepy doll in “Annabelle Comes Home.” (Atomic Monster / New Line Cinema)

A feckless teenager (Katie Sarife) comes face-to-face with a creepy doll in “Annabelle Comes Home.” (Atomic Monster / New Line Cinema)

It’s no classic, but ‘Annabelle Comes Home’ gets the job done

When teenagers foolishly enter a spooky basement, a demon doll gets loose to wreak havoc.

It’s a crowded field for scary dolls right now, what with Chucky newly amuck and those ventriloquist dummies from “Toy Story 4” staggering through the multiplex. But there should be room for Annabelle, the wide-eyed freak-toy from the “Conjuring” world.

“Annabelle Comes Home” slots into the unfolding “Conjuring” hustle with extended cameo performances from Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, returning as real-life — yes, I’m sure all this actually happened — paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren.

A prologue shows the Warrens taking (you should pardon the phrase) possession of the demon-attracting doll. “The evil is contained,” intones Lorraine, putting an end to this unpleasantness.

Then the Warrens get out of town, to allow their young daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace, from “Gifted”) and her babysitter (Madison Iseman) to spend a night in the house alone.

Alone. In the house. With Annabelle stored in a cabinet in the locked basement room that contains all the black-magic geegaws the Warrens have gathered in their long years of pitching the hoodoo.

Sure, the keys are left in plain sight on the desk in their office. But what are the chances the babysitter’s pal (Katie Sarife) will find the keys and go poking around in the locked room, deliberately tempting fate and doing a little spirit-raising?

If you have to ask that question, you don’t understand the mind of “Conjuring” chief James Wan, who penned the film’s story; original “Annabelle” screenwriter Gary Dauberman takes the writer-director duties this time. This movie revels in the haunted house conventions of people entering basements and opening forbidden doors.

For the most part, “Annabelle Comes Home” gets the job done within its shrewdly limited setting. It’s 1974, by the way, so the Warren house looks like the home of “The Brady Bunch,” except with more brown than avocado hues, and more demons. Although I always did wonder about the Brady house.

Some of the scares are well-earned (there’s a pizza-delivery guy who really nails the landing) and enough quirky ideas to keep things perking along, like the way a Badfinger record starts skipping at an especially suspenseful moment.

The young cast is decent, and Farmiga and Wilson saunter through as though sharing some kind of inside joke. It’s always been part of the appeal of these movies that their ghost-busting is treated as everyday employment. Need a poltergeist removal? Sure, we’ll get to that, after we fix the school lunches and give the car a tune-up.

Let’s say this: “Annabelle Comes Home” may not be a classic, but it’s at least an improvement over “The Curse of La Llorona,” Wan’s previous attempt to expand the “Conjuring” universe. Can we expect an Annabelle-Chucky crossover movie in the near future?

“Annabelle Comes Home” (2½ stars)

A generally well-managed haunted-house flick, as demon doll Annabelle gets loose while a babysitter tries to maintain order. Nothing too special here, but the scares are fairly earned and the young cast is decent.

Rating: R, for violence

Showing: Alderwood, Alderwood Mall, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood Cinemas, Meridian, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Seattle 10, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall

Talk to us

More in Life

People begin parading down First Street with a giant balloon “PRIDE” during Snohomish’s inaugural Pride celebration on Saturday, June 3, 2023, in downtown Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Your guide to Pride in Snohomish County

Mark your calendars; Pride Month is upon us.

Twin sisters Lyndsay Lamb (left) and Leslie Davis (right), co-hosts of HGTV's Unsellable Houses. (Photo provided)
Meet and greet HGTV’s ‘Unsellable Houses’ twin sister stars in Snohomish on Friday

Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis have made Lamb & Co. a #twinwin home-selling, home-goods brand.

Bern’s famous clock tower, part of the original wall around the city, looms at the head of Marktgasse street.
Rick Steves’ Europe: Bern, Switzerland’s classy yet fun capital

This easygoing riverside city gives travelers a good reason. to descend from the Swiss Alps.

Teaching children the value of money in a digital age

Today’s increasingly cashless society makes it harder for kids to understand money.

2023 Lexus 500 AWD F Sport (Lexus)
2023 Lexus 500 AWD F Sport

Truly a driver’s car, the LS 500 benefits from an adaptive variable suspension with balanced spring and damper rates.

Michelle LeFevre and her Bernese mountain dog Kona sit in the shade in front of Kona’s Pond outside their home Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Camano, Washington. LeFevre, a retired teacher, wrote the children’s book “On Kona’s Pond” which centers on her pup and the other creatures that call the pond home. LeFevre’s sister, Susan Cousineau McGough, illustrated the book with watercolor renditions of Kona and the pond. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Life ain’t so ruff ‘On Kona’s Pond’

A retired Camano Island teacher’s new children’s book, “On Kona’s Pond,” tells the story of her dog and his wild friends.

Icelandair changed her flights. Can she get a refund for her tour?

When Icelandair changes Patricia Boyle’s flights from Baltimore to Washington Dulles International Airport, she asks for a refund from her tour operator, Icelandair Holidays. So, why isn’t it responding?

Peonies and irises in full bloom in Steve’s yard. (Steve Smith)
June is the perfect time to peruse perennials and get them planted

Penstemons, echinaceas, rudbeckias, euphorbias, crocosmias, astilbes, hostas and so on and so forth — the choices seem to be endless.

Since white rockrose tolerates salt-laden air, it is a natural for coastal gardens. (Rick Peterson)
Great Plant Pick: White Rockrose

What: White rockrose, or cistus hybridus, is the hardiest and most reliable… Continue reading

Most Read