Movie: Annabelle
By: Maniac E
Date: October 7, 2014
After the major success of The Conjuring we get a prequel movie called Annabelle. A prequel that focusses on the creepy doll that cought most people's eyes after watching The Conjuring. But will this puppet give us the creeps?
In Annabelle we learn the horrific origin of that creepy demon-possessed doll that Ed and Lorraine Warren battled in The Conjuring. As it turns out, the doll was once a collectible owned by Jon and Mia Form (Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis), a young married couple expecting their first child. One night, Jon and Mia find themselves in the midst of a home invasion/murder by a couple of satanic cult members – an assault they barely escape intact. After that trauma, Jon and Mia's home begins to be plagued by a series of increasingly malevolent supernatural events. Even when they move and their newborn daughter has blessed their new home, they find themselves the targets of some unseen tormentor – one who is somehow connected to that prized doll in Mia's treasured collection.
To start off the most people will not understand how these directors ended up in this boat. Leonetti being responsible for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation for instance. But to set that aside they tried and make Annabelle have some atmosphere. Acting wise things are okay but nothing really outstanding. Character development is kept to a minimum and much of the story is based on loose things. The back story would have been the key thing to make this movie a success but we get a blend non inspired movie. Again there are some good scares in it but it is all to flat. I wanted Annabelle to get under my skin and creep me out, but what we got where the easy scare approaches. That made the whole movie feel dull and less entertaining.
But once again, Hollywood is falling into cliches and is making this nothing more than just a cash in prequel. One of the major things that kept me feeling irritated during the movie was the following fact: It had no real goal, every scene is like stitched on to it and making it more like mini scare moments pieced together. This is where they could have really made things interesting but they kind of went for the easy way. The story is just putting the viewer off, there is nothing here that will let you sit on your seat during the whole movie.
To me the movie is an easy cash in and uses all the wrong aspects of that they could have used. It is not about cheap scares it was about a bigger story, a story they could have created. For me it now feels empty and not worth rewatching ever again. It's almost like they just didn't want to make anything out of this. But if you want cheap scares and easy BOO! moments go right a head this probably be your cup of tea. 2 out of 5 chainsaws for this one.
Annabelle
John R. Leonetti
USA
2014
Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis, Alfre Woodard
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