Annabelle Comes Home: New Trailer Teases Expansion Of Conjuring Universe
When Annabelle Comes Home, a few friends will be coming out to play.
The second trailer for the latest entry in the Conjuring Universe was released today, and it introduces us to some new demonic baddies that we're likely to be seeing more of in the near future. The spot was posted to Warner Brothers Pictures' YouTube channel.
The creepy quotient has been ratcheted up significantly in this new look at the third go-round for the demonic doll, which — for once — doesn't focus on its past. The new flick takes place largely within the abode of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), the demonologist protagonists of the first two Conjuring films, who bring Annabelle (wait for it) home to sequester her inside their Artifacts Room, where they hope she won't be able to wreak any more supernatural havoc. Of course, if they were right, the movie would be called Annabelle Gets Safely Contained and would be about ten minutes long.
The interesting conceit here is that the doll essentially activates all the other possessed objects in the Artifacts Room, and just as the Conjuring flicks gave us Valak the demonic nun and the Crooked Man (who will allegedly get his own feature at some point), Annabelle Comes Home looks to be offering us a few more spin-off-worthy characters. One of those gets a major tease in this trailer: the Ferry Man (presumably not the same one who '80s rocker Chris DeBurgh warned you not to pay).
The spot begins with an effective bit of light humor, as the Warrens come upon the scene of an accident while driving at night. They're flagged down by a friendly-ish police officer, who instructs them to turn around; when Ed offers to help, the cop asks, "You a doctor or something?" Ed haltingly answers, "Or something," as the cop takes a looks in the back seat — where Annabelle sits, creepy as ever. "Nice doll," the cop says sarcastically, to which Ed has the perfect deadpan response: "That's what you think."
We then see the Warrens sealing Annabelle inside her glass case in the Artifacts Room, accompanied by a priest, as Ed asks in voiceover, "Did it work?" Lorraine replies, "The evil is contained." Perhaps Ed should have saved that comeback for his wife, as Annabelle's tittering laughter on the soundtrack assures us that, no, it most definitely is not.
The Warrens are then seen leaving for an overnight trip as babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) arrives to watch over their daughter Judy (McKenna Grace, Captain Marvel). "don't your parents keep any creepy stuff around?" Mary Ellen asks the little girl, who summarily warns her to stay the heck out of the room in which all the creepy stuff is kept. "My dad says that everything in there is either haunted, cursed, or used in some ritualistic practice," Judy's voiceover explains, as we see Mary Ellen's curious friend Daniela (Katie Sarife, Supernatural) just straight-up ignoring her advice and checking out the room for herself. We get a quick peek here at a suit of armor with a horned helmet, which will come into play later.
Daniela discovers a sketch of a spooky, hooded figure with coins over its eyes, and here we get our introduction to the new demonic entity on the block. "The Ferry Man," Judy narrates. "They put coins over the eyes of the dead... so he can take their souls." But, Daniela wants to know, what about that creepy doll? "Annabelle?" Judy says, then gravely intones, "She's in the case for a reason."
We get a long, unnervingly quiet sequence of Mary Ellen trying to find the source of the little girl's laughter coming from somewhere in the house. "Can Annabelle come out to play?" her voice asks ever so faintly, right before all the lights in the house die at once. An increasingly creeped-out Mary Ellen grabs a flashlight, and its beam catches a single coin spinning on the floor. As the babysitter picks it up, the flashlight also dies — and the Ferry Man suddenly materializes out of the darkness right in front of her.
"Annabelle is the beacon for other spirits," Lorraine narrates over a series of quick shots — one of which shows us that suit of armor with its helmet slowly turning to face the viewer. Then, the spot's final sequence makes sure that we're really good and unsettled, as Mary Ellen — protectively clutching Judy in the darkened house — places a phone call.
"Mrs. Warren?" Mary Ellen asks, sheer panic in her voice. "Is everything okay?" we hear Lorraine say on the other end, and it is certainly not — but it's about to get even worse. "Something is happening inside your house, and we're not really sure what to do," the babysitter says. "Can I speak to Annabelle?" asks the voice on the other end, calmly as can be. "I-I'm sorry?" Mary Ellen asks, at which point Lorraine's voice starts to sound... different. "You need to give her a soul, dear," it says. "She wants a soul —" Cue the dark, ragged hand falling on Judy's shoulder, followed by a cut to black.
Well, the first trailer for Annabelle Comes Home was pretty cool, but this one has us officially on board. There will undoubtedly be a final trailer before the film's release, at which point we'll most likely find out more about whatever is inhabiting that suit of armor — it's been featured, briefly but prominently, in both trailers so far, and its design is the stuff of nightmares. Oh, and the Ferry Man? The super-freaky looking dude with the weird visual calling card who comes out of nowhere to steal your soul? Get this man a spin-off, stat.
Annabelle Comes Home was written and directed by Gary Dauberman, making his directorial debut; he's the scribe behind the first two installments, not to mention The Nun and both chapters of the excellent Stephen King adaptation It. The flick hits screens on June 26, and you'd better believe our butts will be seated front and center.