Annabelle Movies Ranked
Annabelle! She's everyone's favorite hideous terror doll! The ugly porcelain figure has appeared in several "Conjuring" movies, first popping up in the original "The Conjuring" before starring in her own film series. And, just to make things extra scary, she's real. Sort of. The "real" Annabelle is actually a rather harmless-looking Raggedy Ann doll, but that wouldn't fly for the movies. So when it came time for Annabelle to make her big screen debut, she was redesigned into the grinning ghoul we all know and love/loathe. In honor of Annabelle and all her horrific mayhem, we've decided to go ahead and rank all of the "Annabelle" movies. For the sake of brevity, we'll only be counting the three films with "Annabelle" in the title, since those are officially her films. So let's get to it! And remember: if someone brings you home an ugly monster doll, just chuck that baby right in the trash before things get out of hand.
3. Annabelle (2014)
The first "Annabelle" film is also the worst. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's the worst movie in the so-called Conjuring Universe. A riff on "Rosemary's Baby," this scare-free outing has the doll being brought into the apartment of new mother Mia (Annabelle Wallis). It seems that the demon that inhabits the Annabelle doll wants Mia's soul or some such nonsense. But nothing that happens here is very interesting or thrilling. And save for an admittedly effective sequence set in the creepy basement of the apartment building, "Annabelle" is almost entirely devoid of anything resembling a scare. It's boring, and that's something that a movie about a demon doll should never be. Feel free to skip this one entirely and read the Wikipedia page instead. You won't be missing much.
2. Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Talk about a comeback. After the dire disappointment that was "Annabelle," the franchise bounced back nicely with David F. Sandberg's prequel, "Annabelle: Creation." The story follows a group of six orphan girls and a nun who go to live in the secluded home of a doll maker and his wife. Some years ago, the couple lost their daughter in an accident. Sure enough, Annabelle the doll is also at the house, and when one of the girls discovers the doll, she ends up targeted by demonic forces. Everything that the original "Annabelle" lacked is remedied here, as Sandberg knows how to build dread and atmosphere with the material. It's a nifty little creepshow, and proof that the Conjuring Universe can always course-correct if they hire the right behind-the-scenes people.
1. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
I have a feeling that most people will consider "Annabelle: Creation" to be the best film in the trilogy, but in my opinion — and thus, the official opinion of this list — the clear winner is "Annabelle Comes Home." The cinematic equivalent of a Halloween haunted house, "Annabelle Comes Home" has the doll being locked up in the cursed artifact room of the Warrens, the ghost-hunting married couple at the center of the main "Conjuring" movies. When the Warrens are called away on one of their cases, their young daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace), her babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), and Mary Ellen's friend Daniela (Katie Sarife) are left home alone with all that spooky stuff. And when Daniela lets Annabelle out of her case, all hell breaks loose, and all the cursed objects in the house come to life and start terrorizing the girls. It's non-stop spooky fun, and easily the most enjoyable film in this trilogy.