Annabelle Movie Review

October 3, 2014

This long-awaited spinoff from the Conjuring is finally here, and what better way to frighten the bejeebies out of you than to use a grotesque doll! Nothing could be worse, or could it? As I may have forgotten to mention – it’s also possessed.

This prequel is set back to when Charles Manson and his cult was caught by police. This sets the mood for what happens next…

We meet a very pregnant Mia (Annabelle Wallis – how ironic) wife of medical intern John (Ward Horton) who are in the final stages of decorating the nursery in this seemingly nice neighborhood. Adding the final touches to the room Mia who is hugely in love with vintage dolls adds her collection of them which are aplenty and creepy as hell. But for her, they are perfect!

As a gesture of his love John decides to give her a gift, which he knew she would adore, and to her surprise it was what she had searched for high a low for a long time….. It was the doll! Even brand new out of the box it was one ugly doll. And from then on the horror unravels and you find out how she got the name “Annabelle”

Being a horror movie fan I know how hard it is to come up with an unpredictable story line as this genre has done it all. As for this movie it also offers nothing new, but does provide more seat jolting scares. I have to admit I also jumped a few times as I was caught off guard by some unexpected intense moments. Now, unlike the Conjuring, the acting of Annabelle Wallis was a bit unconvincing. Her look was quite unemotional as it never really changed no matter if she was happy, angry or even scared. I would go as far as saying she had a Stone face. I do think her baby girl Leah was more of a leading star and was cute as Hell. As for Ward Horton the fact that his wife was terrified while these unexplained occurrences were happening, also had this un-connectable emotion to him as well.

Just like in the Conjuring there’s element of a Demonic Demon, hauntings, and possession; different from the Conjuring the emotional impact just isn’t there because you just can’t grasp the lack of energy from the main actor themselves.

I love the way the film was directed (well of course not from Mia and John) along with the vision intended. The scares are quick but intense; the storyline is simple and relatable. Just keep in mind that there are some small similarities from the Movie Insidious and once you see it you’ll know what I mean. As, I made sure to check my back seat before heading home because you just never know what is out there. Once the dust settles you realize it just set you up for the next Annabelle movie… This of course was expected!

I’m not sure why this movie is getting such bad criticism (I guess all Horror movies due) but, I enjoyed “Annabelle”, it was a great October movie and a no cheesy humor, well actually no humor at all. I recommend it as a must see for this Halloween season and it might even make you spill your popcorn so be careful and if nothing else, you will surly take away from this move is maybe going home and burning all your vintage dolls or for that matter any realistic looking doll.