Last November I visited the set of Warner Bros. next spin-off in THE CONJURING based franchise, ANNABELLE COMES HOME, which finds Grace Mckenna in the titular role of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s daughter, Judy. Joining the cast is Madison Iseman as Judy’s babysitter Mary Ellen, Katie Sarife as Judy’s friend Daniela, along with Vera Farmiga reprising her role as Lorraine Warren and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed Lorraine, the famed couple-turned-paranormal investigators who first gained real life infamy before becoming known as a key component in James Wan’s CONJURING series. The film was shot on location in Burbank, California, which doubles as Monroe, Connecticut where the movie takes place. We visited the set of Ed and Lorraine’s home which was built on a soundstage, as well as the locked artifacts room where the Warrens have the Annabelle doll ‘safely’ locked up where she can do no harm. With so many fun anecdotes and fun tidbits shared with us journalists within the span of a day, here are the highlights and main takeaways of what we learned from the interviews, locations and footage shown during our visit.
Warning: Mild Spoilers Ahead!
-ANNABELLE COMES HOME will begin where the first CONJURING movie began, showing the Warrens bringing the doll home from the nurses’ apartment and locking her up in the artifact room. This action will set the table for everything that follows.
-ANNABELLE COMES HOME takes place after THE CONJURING but before THE CONJURING 2.
-The movie takes place in the year 1971.
–Gary Dauberman wrote ANNABELLE, ANNABELLE: CREATION, and THE NUN, but this is his first time directing a film. He wrote and directed ANNABELLE COMES HOME.
-Just like in real life, Ed and Lorraine Warren coordinate their clothing so that they match and appear as a united front. You can tell what they are going to do next based on what the couple is wearing. For instance, when Lorraine is in a black cardigan and Ed is in a black polo, they are probably on their way to perform an exorcism.
-Ever since the filming of THE CONJURING 2, a priest has been called upon to bless the set. This is because so many strange occurrences happened on the set of the first movie that the cast and crew thought it would be a good idea. Clocks kept stopping at the same time at night for various crew members across town, lights blew out randomly, and Vera Farmiga herself got random bruises on her body and scratches that resembled a claw on her computer.
-Director Gary Dauberman says his movie will feature more moments of levity than the previous ANNABELLE films. He’s not necessarily a fan of ‘horror comedies’, but he likes some comedy in his horror, and he will lean into that.
-There’s an Easter egg in the living room if you look closely – the paining on the wall is actually a painting of the house from the first ANNABELLE movie.
-Production designer Jennifer Spence added a trap door in the floor to the artifact room just to see if the director wants to utilize that in the alcove of the archives. Something may or may not pop out of the floor. She also added a narrow stairway to give the demon a chance to attack.
–James Wan describes the movie as being “like NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM”, but with Annabelle.
-The archive room features a few Easter eggs, including the song box from the first CONJURING movie as well as a replica of the wheelchair that belonged to Edgar Rice Burroughs who created the character of the jungle hero Tarzan.
-Mckenna Grace plays Judy Warren, Ed and Lorraine’s daughter. According to Grace, her character Judy knows a lot about the paranormal because she is the daughter of two demonologists.
–Madison Iseman plays Mary Ellen, the babysitter of Judy Warren. Iseman describes her character as very pure and idealistic. She has been babysitting Judy for a long time, and her main objective is to protect Judy at all costs.
–Katie Sarife plays Daniela, Mary Ellen’s best friend. Daniela recently lost her father, making her both a very troubled character and more prone to paranormal activity. She is the most outgoing girl of the group, and she tends to push Mary Ellen out of her comfort zone.
-This is Madison Iseman’s second time working with scary dolls after starring in the R.L. Stine adaptation GOOSEBUMPS.
-ANNABELLE COMES HOME will mostly feature the three young girls, Judy Warren, Mary Ellen and Daniela going up against Annabelle while Ed and Lorraine are away from home. A lot of the film is about youth.
-Costume designer Leah Butler takes inspiration from what she finds in the 1971 Sears catalogs and Seventeen Magazine. She also relies heavily on Vera Farmiga to tell her what Lorraine Warren would and would not wear, as she has become an expert on the character at this point.
-Producer Peter Safran believes James Wan probably won’t come back to direct anymore CONJURING universe films at this point. Nothing is confirmed, but his Safran’s instinct is Wan will only continue to serve as a producer on any upcoming films.
-There will be a scene featuring a night of babysitting where Judy, Mary Ellen and Daniela play Feeley Meeley, a game in which they have to put their hands inside of a dark closed box and try to wrap their fingers around the proper toy that they seek. Something evil is possibly lurking within the box, waiting to jump out at the girls while they wait for pizza.
-Feeley Meely is an actual real life Milton Bradley board game from the 1970s.
ANNABELLE COMES HOME on June 28th, 2019!
READ MORE FROM OUR SET VISIT:
INTERVIEWS WITH DIRECTOR GARY DAUBERMAN AND STAR MCKENNA GRACE
INTERVIEWS WITH PRODUCER PETER SAFRAN AND STARS MADISON ISEMAN AND KATIE SARIFE