Review: Annabelle

Last summer The Conjuring introduced a small but minor character that ended up stealing the show for some. That character did very little but sit and grin and that character was made of porcelain. In what may be the most shameless cash grab this year, Annabelle arrives to scare and delight fans of The Conjuring. At least that is its goal.

The film is silly and frustrating for fans. While I didn't love The Conjuring it at least sustained a creepy atmosphere. Annabelle has some well crafted moments but never once does it feel like more than a bloated Goosebumps episode. It begins well, though. Set one year before the Warrens’ first encounter with Annabelle, it largely takes place in an early-1970s Southern California so sunny and inviting, it seems like nothing bad could ever happen, especially to the nice central couple: John (Ward Horton), a young doctor, and Mia (Annabelle Wallis), his pregnant wife (whose character’s name doubles as an ominous homage to Rosemary’s Baby). They seem to have it all until John gives Mia a present, Annabelle. Now one of the films major problems is convincing anyone that someone would be happy about receiving this ghastly looking doll.

From there, things take a turn for the worse. In a tensely staged sequence, Mia and John wake up just in time to miss seeing the neighbors getting stabbed by their daughter Annabelle, a hippie in thrall to a Satanic cult, not unlike The Family from the era. Annabelle end up dying while clutching the doll, investing it with her twisted spirit, or so we are told at one point and then told otherwise at another.

Director John Leonetti, cinematographer for The Conjuring and the Insidious films, knows how to build tension. Even before the trouble begins, he favors slow push-ins that suggestsomething bad will happen soon, even if it’s never clear what. Once Annabelle becomes possessed the film would have been better to committing to a Chucky like possession where the doll is the thing to fear. Instead a demon is introduced. While the demon design is fantastically scary and one scene is particularly effective with the demon, this addition muddles the plot. We never fully understand if Annabelle or the demon is the one haunting Mia and John.

The rest of the film is a paint by numbers affair. Leonetti has some chops and creates a few good scares here but the script is full of every modern horror cliche. A few effective scenes can't save a whole film from feeling tired and uninspired.

2/5