Annabelle Comes Home

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Annabelle Comes Home
• a review of Annabelle Comes Home completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 July 2019.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

This third movie in the Annabelle series finds paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Loraine Warren (Vera Formiga) wrapping up a case involving Annabelle. They decide to bring the doll back to their house and lock her in a room in a special case designed to contain the evil she possesses. When they have to go off to work on another case they enlist the help of their trusty babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) to look after their daughter Judy (McKenna Grace). A newspaper article explaining the work the Warrens do has recently been published causing no end of drama for Judy who faces ostracism from her peers and enlightening Mary Ellen’s friend Daniela (Katie Sarife), who blames herself for her father’s untimely death and who takes the opportunity to visit and see if there is anything useful in the house that could help her contact her father. Despite Mary Ellen and Judy’s warnings and with a little demonic help Daniela finds her way into the forbidden chamber where she unwittingly releases Annabelle who unleashes all the forces of hell contained in that room to help her on her ultimate quest to possess a soul. With the help of the neighbour boy Bob (Michael Cimino) the girls must survive the night and try to recapture Annabelle before she destroys them all.

Death of a parent, ghost and demon hunting, communicating with the dead, items and people being possessed.

There is some violence in this movie including:

• There is a car accident where people are killed. The accident is seen from afar but a dead body joins the Warrens in their car shortly thereafter.
• Ed is pushed into the road and nearly run over by a truck.
• A creepy, blood covered, bride tries to attack Judy with a knife.
• A Hellhound chases Bob into the foggy darkness. Bob hides in a chicken coup and the Hellhound attacks and kills a chicken. The attack is not seen, only the shadow of the Hellhound is visible while it rips the chicken apart and Bob cowers in terror.
• Coins are thrown onto the ground by an invisible demon that shapeshifts and disappears. He grabs Mary Ellen and drags her through the house as she screams in terror.
• Annabelle tries to grab Judy while she is sleeping in bed.
• A shape shifting monster comes after Judy with a knife.
• The creepy bride in the bloody wedding dress attacks Daniela and stabs her through the chest. As she gasps in horror the bride vomits blood into her mouth.
• The Hellhound attacks Judy in a car, ripping through the roof and shattering the windows. Bob hits it with his guitar allowing Judy to escape.
• As Mary Ellen passes a suit of armour she can hear the sounds of killing, of stabbing and slashing, of women and children screaming.
• When Daniela is possessed she grabs at Judy and drags Mary Ellen away.
• Undead hands come to life and protrude out of a game grabbing at Judy’s feet as she tries to escape.
• As Judy tries to put Annabelle back in her case a demon grabs her by the neck and tries to suck out her soul. He throws Mary Ellen across the room where she crashes to the floor.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• The Warren’s car breaks down on a foggy night just opposite a ramshackle cemetery. There is whispering in the back seat and a bloody girl is seen in the rear-view mirror. When Lorraine turns around, she is gone but whispering continues. Then numerous dead people, looking like zombies, appear at the gates of the cemetery. The next moment even more surround the car. Ed is pushed into the street by one of them just as a truck is coming past. He narrowly misses being killed. The scene is intense and very disturbing.
• Annabelle herself is very creepy to look at and after she is released she pops up in all kinds of places, under the couch, in a rocking chair, in Judy’s bed while she is sleeping, and each time brings terror to those that see her.
• A creepy fog comes out of nowhere, transforms itself into a Hellhound that chases Bob and completely envelops the house.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• There is a creepy monkey toy and numerous sinister objects that behave oddly as Annabelle is being sprayed with holy water.
• An old, dead, priest continuously watches and follows Judy when she is at school. Later he is seen in her house.
• There is loud banging and rumbling as Judy walks into her room after seeing Annabelle in the rocking chair, chairs tip over, pictures fall, there is whispering, and the creepy bride comes at Judy with a knife. She stops when Judy holds up a cross and begins to chant a prayer.
• There is a green light under Judy’s door. She awakens when she realises something is under the covers with her. The creepy doll face can be seen under the blankets and with every turn of a coloured wheel that casts shadows on the wall, the doll takes a different form morphing into a shape shifting, knife wielding monster.

In addition to the above mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

• While Daniela is in the forbidden room a shadowy man walks across the room, the door slams shut and locks and the piano begins to play a familiar tune. Daniela takes up the tune and a zombie like hand begins to play beside her. Daniela looks into a mirror and sees her father she then looks at the figure beside her and is terrified when a bloody, mutilated face screams that she did this to him.
• A recording begins to play “If you don’t pay his toll, he’ll take your soul” in a raspy whisper growing in intensity each time it is repeated. The lights go out and coins begin to clatter to the ground. As Mary Ellen follows them through the house searching for their origin, people with coins on their eyes are seen lurking in the shadows. Eventually her flashlight goes out. She is shaking and terrified when she is surrounded and grabbed by the people with coins on their eyes and they pull her across the floor. Mary Ellen is screaming in terror and the music is loud and intense.
• Mary Ellen must walk into a hidden chamber to get Annabelle. She passes numerous coffins filled with bodies with coins covering their eyes. She is shaking and terrified as her light goes out and she comes face to face with a murdered girl who could be her twin. This girl is holding tight to Annabelle and as Mary Ellen reaches out to take it the girl gives an almighty scream.

• There is a TV screen in the room that Daniela is locked in that shows a few moments into the future and it repeatedly shows Daniela the terror that is in store for her. When she can’t take any more she turns her back to it and is huddled over in terror. The screen shows that she will answer the phone and that the moment she does she will meet a violent and bloody death. Then the actual phone begins to ring and Daniela slowly moves towards it, reaching out to answer it. She is stopped in the nick of time by Judy and Mary Ellen.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Milton Bradley logo is shown on a board game and Twister is on the floor at Judy’s party.

Sexual references

There are some minor sexual references in this movie, including:

• The phrase “Bob’s got balls” is used repeatedly in different contexts be it fighting a Hellhound, flirting with Mary Ellen or getting actual balls from the school’s sports room.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• There is moderate use of the word “shit” and occasional use of “fuck.”

In a nutshell

Annabelle Comes Home is a horror film based on the real life accounts of Ed and Lorraine Warren. While the plot is fairly predictable, the characters are solid and there are plenty of jump scares that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

The main messages from this movie are that good will ultimately triumph over evil, that not all ghosts are bad and that some things are better left alone.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Teamwork
• Empathy
• Courage
• Forgiveness
• Kindness

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as

• Touching things that do not belong to them.
• Not following instructions in other people’s homes or heeding the warnings that they leave to keep others safe.
• Ostracising or harassing individuals because they are different
• The kindness that Mary Ellen and Danielle showed to Judy and how that had a transformative effect on Judy’s peers.