Now that October is here, it’s time for horror films to be unleashed upon the masses just in time for the Halloween holiday. And this year is no exception. From the producers of last year’s hit The Conjuring comes a prequel from one of the more popular characters from that movie. Just like the tagline says, “Before The Conjuring there was Annabelle.” And they were right. This Halloween, go meet Annabelle.
Directed by John R. Leonetti, starring Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton and Alfre Woodard, this movie tells us the story of Annabelle and how she found her way into the hands of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the famed paranormal investigators who, to this day, still keep Annabelle locked up for the world’s safety.
We follow the story of John Gordon (Ward Horton) who has found the perfect gift for both his pregnant wife Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and their unborn child: Annabelle, a beautiful and rare vintage doll in a pure white dress. Unfortunately, the family’s delight with the doll is short-lived. One horrific night, members of a Satanic cult invade their home and violently attack John and Mia. Spilled blood and terror are not all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity which seem to have possessed the doll, Annabelle.
After the attacks, many unexplained occurrences begin to happen to Mia while John is away at work. Soon a fire breaks out. forcing the couple to move to an apartment building in Pasadena. Mia meets and becomes good friends with local bookshop owner, Evelyn (Alfre Woodard). Just as Mia thinks everything is back to normal, Annabelle has other things in mind. With the help of Mia and John’s priest, Father Perez (Tony Amendola), we find out it’s not a normal ghost type haunting. The doll is possessed by a demon that will stop at nothing to get Mia’s soul. Together, John, Mia, and Evelyn must try to stop the evil Annabelle before it’s too late.
The movie isn’t nearly as good or as scary as The Conjuring, but it does manager to stay true to the same style and feeling of that first film and finds its own two feet to stand on. Just like The Conjuring, Annabelle makes use of old school horror techniques: shadow play, jump scares, subtle changes in lighting, out of focus trick scares, etc. But finds its way to make them new fresh, which just adds to an already creepy movie. The main creepy factor is the doll itself, which just looks scary no matter what. But add in demonic imagery and the doll seems to take on a whole other dimension of scary.
The cast is well acted and all seem to understand that they are in a horror movie. Each is acting perfect for their character and no one is “camping” it up because it a horror flick. Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton are great as John and Mia. Wallis is much better than Horton, who seems a little wooden when he’s in scenes without Wallis to bounce off of. But it’s nothing that hurts the movie or takes anything away from his level of performance. Veteran actor Alfre Woodard has a small but very important role and she is just as wonderful as you would expect from someone of her talent and years of experience. Each gets their moment to shine and you believe in them as they fight off Annabelle.
Overall the entire movie is fun and a good scare at the perfect time of the year. If you’re looking to get as scared as you did in the The Conjuring, you won’t. Simply put, this isn’t as scary. But it does have it’s moments of seat jumping. This has a different vibe going for it, but the same quality and feel as the first one. Decent effects, great acting and some damn good scary parts that will make almost anyone jump in their seat. And isn’t that why we go? For a little scare.