Annabelle (2014) Directed by John R. Leonetti. Starring: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis, Alfre Woodard. IMDB says: “A couple begin to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.”
Annabelle is a new horror film produced by James Wan starring Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton. The film is a sort-of spin-off, sort of prequel to The Conjuring which was directed by Wan. The cinematographer from that film, John Leonetti, directs Annabelle. The film tells the story of how a certain antique doll came to be haunted and the strange occurrences that it brings about. The idea of a haunted doll has been around for decades and when I first learned of Annabelle, visions of the 1988 horror flick Child’s Play spring to mind. In that film, a possessed doll terrifies folks and generally causes mischief with a certain degree of campiness. Annabelle is an entirely different film that uses the premise that dolls can be evil and goes off in an completely different direction.
I’m going to try to avoid giving out any major plot points because while surprise is far from essential to the viewing of this film, I believe it is best seen with little to no knowledge ahead of time. That being said, the plot is not overly complex and does not take itself too seriously. The film opens rather violently and then has a pretty big lull free from any major spooks or scares; save some creepiness. But the ending is where the horror shouts out triumphantly from the dark. I have a hard time giving the film too much credit on the plot front because truthfully a lot of it seems to be borrowed from Wan’s other work. That being said, there is very little to hate here; while not a perfect display of screenplay and direction coming together in cinema magic, it is, at the least, quite a serviceable horror movie.
For being cast with actors I have largely never heard of, they work surprisingly well. Some may complain the female lead is too weak-willed and falls too much into the scared housewife horror trope, but for me, that’s how a horror film should be. The wife should be home and scared to death and the husband shouldn’t believe anything she says. As far-fetched as that could be in real life, it is proven horror movie science. The film manages to do a good bit with quite little. The budget for this film was just a hair over $5 million and geographically, the film is limited primarily to a modest home and an apartment. The film does capitalize on some quick jump scares but they work well. For me, my chief complaint is that the film never quite reaches that pinnacle of horror film-making where you spend an hour thoroughly creeped out and when the credits roll, that feeling has not dissipated.
While there are a few points during this film that I felt a little scared, and I admit, a couple of the jump scares got me; I never truly felt something was wrong. You know that feeling you get, maybe in the theater, maybe on the drive home, maybe that night in bed, where you just feel something is off? This film will not leave you with that feeling; at least it didn’t for me. That being said, I didn’t hate the experience, I actually enjoyed it. While I know this doesn’t read as a glowing recommendation, the film is worth a watch if only because it tells a good story and will make you jump out of your seat a few times.
OVERALL SCORE: 70%