Annabelle

Creepy dolls, and spooky specters 

Mia and John Gordon are a couple of newly weds with a baby on the way. John is in his residency at Med School, and Mia has an affinity towards collecting dolls. One day John surprises her with a doll that will complete her collection, and that night they experience a break in. The break in ends with the intruders being killed and the family being wounded, but still alive. Unfortunately, the intruders left a little something behind as they parted this mortal plane, and it starts to haunt the family.

So, being as how I saw this movie very late in the year I have obviously heard a shit ton of opinions regarding its quality (but nothing on Gone Girl, which I can only hope means people don't want to spoil it). What I have noticed about horror is that what scares me doesn't necessarily scare the general populace, and vice versa. For instance, everyone seemed to love Oculus, but I could take it or leave it. Everyone seemed to hate Annabelle, but this movie generally frightened me. I'm not saying I am going to be kept up for nights on end, but I am definitely going to be making sure doors are locked, and everything that can creek doesn't. The story here is mediocre at best, taking some good points from other movies but the lion's share containing shitty over used troupes. One good thing they took was the family actually moving out of the house when they were afraid of it. Happens in the first act so it isn't necessarily spoil territory, but it is always refreshing to see people move from the haunting. Not only did they move from a nice house, they moved from a nice house to a shitty apartment, showing the world that even a fresh out of school doctor would take a major financial hit from leaving a nice place.  The apartment makes this story seem a bit more down to earth, but also turns out to be this movie's undoing as the story unfolds. Throughout the movie the family makes light of "how thin the walls are," and not once does a neighbor come to see why there is a woman screaming the air out of her lungs. They seem to try and get people thinking that this might be because the neighbors are more or less reserved to themselves, but I am not buying it. If I heard someone screaming like their life was endangered I would at least call the cops. All the other problems with this movie are the same problems we face with every horror movie before this. Why would you put the thing you suspect is possessed in the back seat? Why would you leave your wife to fend for herself after such a traumatic ordeal, and not (at least) call someone to look in on her? Why would you ever leave your baby alone if you know there is a specter looming over your family? All the same problems with story that most horror movies have, and unfortunately these problems were addressed by its predecessor, so it is going to be blamed for ruining a possible series. Honestly, the real problem with the story here is how it beats the audience over the head with religion. Where movies like The Conjuring and The Exorcist take a more subtle approach to the taboo film topic, this movie decided to say "the hell with it" and wave it in front of your face like a badge of honor.

Now when I say I was scared I need to clarify what I mean, I was scared throughout some scenes of the movie. I do not have a phobia to dolls, so even though Annabelle was creepy, the glamour shots involving her didn't make the scene anymore tense. In fact, that gave the movie a tell as to when something messed up was going to happen (which is bad in a horror). I also had a major problem with them giving something that was supposed to be a "faceless evil" form . You see a demon in a movie, and it is never going to live up to what your imagination builds. My brain works in weird ways. I love older slasher movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play. I hate movies that rely specifically on creeks in the floor board or giving motion to the motionless like Paranormal Activity or Insidious, but I still hate it when they try to mash the two. Basically, my thought process for this entails that I am not actually supposed to see a demon, and when I do it kills my experience.The same thing happened in Boogeyman (which was crap).  Besides those two things working against it, this movie did have some great scares in it. There is one shock scene in particular that makes my gut wrench, but I will leave that to you all to see.

You know what is really impressive here? A man with a horrible track record when it comes to directing might have actually done right by this movie. Seriously, look up this guy's directing credits, it is like a list of what not to do in your career. Unfortunately, due to the low critical praise this is receiving I think this will be another black mark on his record, which is a pity since he directed it exactly how it should have been. Don't get me wrong John R. Leonetti is no James Wan when it comes to horror, but he isn't the worst thing either. The scenes are shot exactly the way they should to give the audience a scare. The angles are misleading (which is good in horror), the cues for things to jump or move are right on, and I feel the actors would not have done nearly as well had it not been for him.

Now, when I say the actors would not have done nearly as well, I of course mean he kept them from being out right horrible. In fact, they were the most mediocre and mundane thing I have seen on the screen this year. Perfectly fading into the back parts of our minds, and never thought of again. Annabelle Wallis (oh, I see what you did casting her) plays mother like someone would play loving an animal, not someone that brought life into this world; but, she did earn a spot on my scream queens list. I really wanted to hate Ward Horton's character even though the character was written as the ultimate good guy, he played him like the guy was meant to be a dick; but, he does do concern and dialogue very well. Tony Amendola would make an excellent priest, especially since I wouldn't trust my children any where near his character. I know that was a cheap shot, but seriously the man exudes pedophilia.  Basically, every actor here had something I loved about them and something I hated, so I wasn't disappointed, but I also wasn't knocked out of my seat.

Final Verdict: Rent It This movie won't be making audiences run for the hills, but the end scenes were just scary enough to save it from the bargain bin. It might be a guilty pleasure, but at least it is pleasurable.