Annabelle Comes Home

"Annabelle Comes Home" (2019, Gary Dauberman, New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions, The Safran Company, Warner Bros. Pictures) is the seventh film in The Conjuring Universe created by James Wan and is the third feature film centred around the haunted doll, Annabelle, whom we were introduced to in the original The Conjuring and who is based on an actual case by the real life Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Starting from the doll being taken from the young nurses in the first Conjuring film, we follow her home to Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren's locked room full of other haunted artefacts. Some time later, the Warren's daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace), is being babysat by family friend, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) and her friend, Daniela (Katie Sarife). Unfortunately, it turns out that Daniela had other, more personal reasons for tagging along and she breaks into the artefact room searching for a way to contact the spirit of her father. Unwittingly touching everything and anything she can lay her hands on, Daniela also releases Annabelle from her blessed case allowing the doll to wreak havoc on herself, Judy, Mary Ellen and Mary Ellen's admirer, Bob (Michael Cimino) who had come to the house to serenade Mary Ellen in a badly timed attempt at seduction.

A really fun entry into a series that I feel was getting pretty tired. The very limited setting of the Warren's house makes for a good old fashioned spook house feel and the scare scenes are, in usual Wan style, well portrayed and effective. The fact that Annabelle is given the power to raise other spirits nearby makes the variety of ghosts attacking the teens and kid pretty diverse. Personally, I enjoyed the first Conjuring but felt a little cold on the subsequent films, but I found this film to be a fun ride and the first, since the original film, to spark some life back into the creepy little doll despite the doll herself getting very limited screen time. It's jumpy and a little silly - just what I wanted out a spooky doll film.

[Image: New Line Cinema, et al]

Hani

Rosemary's Baby

"Rosemary's Baby" (1968, Roman Polanski, Paramount Pictures) is a supernatural, psychological thriller about a woman who grows concerned that a cult has laid a claim on her unborn child.

I saw this film as a kid (my mum was always pretty cool about sharing her love of horror with me) and two things always stuck with me; that I really liked Mia Farrow's short hair and that making friends with neighbours can be a burden. Yep. Those were my big takeaways from this famous, award-winning Polanski film aged 10.

Guy (John Cassavetes) and Rosemary (Mia Farrow) Woodhouse find a spacious New York City apartment which has recently become available after the elderly tenant passed away. They move in and make it their own, much to the disappointment of their friend, Hutch (Maurice Evans), who has heard tales of murder and dark happenings in the building.

Rosemary makes friends with another young woman living with an elderly couple in the building but is shocked when she appears to have committed suicide soon after. The elderly couple, Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman (Sidney Blackmer) Castevet soon become friends with the Woodhouses after the tragedy. Rosemary is initially keen to be friends but soon finds the Castevet's constant presence in their lives strange. Guy, on the other hand, seems to go from unwilling politeness to a full-on friendship with the couple. He also sees a sudden upturn in good fortune, landing a dream job.

Soon Rosemary and Guy discover that they are having a baby and they are elated. The Castevet's become very involved in the couple's lives and are extremely interested in the pregnancy. Rosemary begins to look very ill and suddenly crave raw meat which causes Hutch to go digging but before he can share his findings with her, he is struck seriously ill.

As her due date approaches, Rosemary becomes more and more convinced that something is wrong. Guy and the Castevets try to convince her that she is getting upset over nothing, but she comes across a message from Hutch which further confirms her worst fears and things spiral into madness from there on...

A truly great film that is both an excellent monument to its era and fashions and a commentary on paranoia and the dismissive way that people can be treated. Whilst slow-burning and fairly low on any gore, the film relies more on a sense of dread which builds around the couple's apparently happy home and lives. Mia Farrow rules the screen as the distraught and waif-like Rosemary. The audience truly feels for her plight which builds slowly before being dialled up to eleven at the film's climax. The film enjoys a fairly twisted ending with Rosemary caught with a very difficult decision. Dark and oddly charming this is definitely a classic worthy of adding to any movie lovers' list.

[Image: Paramount Pictures]

Hani

Critters Attack!

"Critters Attack!" (2019, Bobby Miller, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Television) is the fifth film in the Critters horror comedy franchise.

We follow the story of Drea (Tashiana Washington) who reluctantly agrees to babysit the kids of a college professor, hoping that this might increase her chances of being accepted to the school. She, her little brother, Philip (Jaeden Noel), Trissy (Ava Preston) and Jake (Jack Fulton) come across an injured white female Krite in the forest and unwittingly take it with them which makes them a target for the other, more violent Krites who chase after them, killing and eating everyone and everything in their path...

It was fun to see the Krites back to their usual menacing and humorous antics and to see Dee Wallace back to battle them after the first film. However, the film didn't quite hold up along with the rest of the series in my view. The kids all deliver good performances with Washington as a good leading lady, but the characters themselves are fairly unlikeable and a bit bland. Characters in Critters films are pretty much just critter-fodder anyway, but it seemed like a missed opportunity considering how much time we spend with the four main characters in the film. They felt like characters written by someone who dislikes children and young adults. Aside from Dee Wallace, there are little to no other ties to the other four films. The film also meanders a lot and seems to run out of steam before its eventual conclusion.

But it is still worth your time, especially if you are a fan of its predecessors. The effects are fun, practical and suitably gory with the familiar glowing red eyes and ridiculous rolling balls of teeth hitting all the right chords. In terms of the creatures themselves and the action delivered, this entry feels very much like a film made for the fans and offers a nice amount of nostalgia.

[Image: Warner Bros. Television]

Hani