Yahoo News Annabelle Creation review: Life in the old doll yet
We couldn't have hated Annabelle more. An idiotic, incoherent, cynical cash-in that treated horror fans like fools, it was clearly a lazy and hurried money spinner after the success of James Wan's The Conjuring.
But now Wan is building an entire Conjuring cinematic universe (the CCU?), with further spinoffs based on key characters the Nun and the Crooked Man in the works. It's almost like he wishes he hadn't let Warner rush into a dreadful tie-in...
Annabelle: Creation is a prequel to Annabelle, which is itself a prequel to The Conjuring (keep up!), an origin story pre-dating the previous origin story which almost serves as an apology for it. It's still a fairly silly creepy doll movie, so don't come expecting a masterpiece, but within its own confines it's actually something of a triumph.
In short: Annabelle: Creation is very, very scary.
The plot, of course, is nonsense.
A bus full of displaced orphans with their guardian nun (a nice one, not a scary one) travel to stay with dollmaker Antony LaPaglia and his wife Miranda Otto: the Mullins. The couple's house is big and empty, after the accidental death of their 7-year-old daughter Bee some 12 years earlier – they're happy to have kids in the place again.
Unfortunately, it's a creepy old house filled with bits of doll. Then there's Bee's bedroom, locked and perfectly preserved, which contains the creepiest doll of all, Annabelle, hand-fashioned by her father. But Annabelle isn't your ordinary doll...
It doesn't even try to avoid the bad horror tropes checklist: it doesn't stick to its own rules; the plot doesn't hold water; the children don't tell the adults about the creepy goings-on; the adults are irritatingly incredulous if they try to tell them; and no one ever seems to hear anyone else scream, even when they're in the same house.
But other than that, Annabelle: Creation does a load of things that have been done before with absolute skill, timing and effectiveness. It's unsettling throughout with an expert jump scare every ten minutes or so, right through to the end, coming left, right and centre, meaning you're never allowed to relax.
While Creation is still tied to the boring mythology of Annabelle (i.e. the doll is just a 'conduit' for a demon and isn't itself possessed), it does at least try to have some fun with her. The doll doesn't actually move on its own (because it's not possessed, see?) but there's a wonderful set-piece of the demon presumably taking the form of the doll, rising up under a bed sheet and walking, slowly, slowly, threatening to reveal itself.
This is David F Sandberg's second feature after the creepy and effective Lights Out, which was produced by Wan. Wan produces again here and you can see his marks all over it, from the doll's workshop (featuring toys that could have come straight out of Dead Silence) to the Easter eggs linking back to the wider Conjuring world (look out for a cameo from the creepy nun).
Gorier than the other Conjuring-verse films, with a little Final Destination-style death-by-household-object (including a fun bit involving a stairlift), unlike the original this is an assured piece of pure horror cinema helmed by people who clearly love and understand the genre.
It's a satisfying watch, despite the idiosyncrasies, that manages to reset Annabelle's mythology with a clever twist. Sure, it doesn't have the smarts of the year's best horror – Raw, Get Out and It Comes At Night – but in terms of pure scares, Annabelle: Creation is the one to beat.
Director: David F Sandberg; Screenplay: Gary Dauberman; Starring: Stephanie Sigman, Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson; Running time: 109 minutes; Certificate: 15
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