(AOTN) Annabelle Creation, is an epic installment in the Annabelle series. The movie acts as a prequel to Annabelle which came out in 2014. The two Annabelle movies tie into the Conjuring universe. The movie revolves around a group of girls from a local Orphanage who move into an isolated farmhouse, and live with parents who are still dealing with the death of there daughter twelve years earlier.
Annabelle Creation was directed by David F. Sandberg who also directed the fright filled, Light’s Out. Sandberg’s obvious expertise in directing jump scares are at an all time high in this movie. I found myself covering my eyes on more than a few occasions. But that is not to say that the movie was good just because of the jump scares. The pacing and storytelling of the film are done to perfection.
From the very beginning the audience gets to witness the very creation of the doll as the Doll Maker takes his time in putting the finishing touches on his creation. Only a few moments later we witness the Doll Maker playing hide and go seek with his daughter, Bee which is where the Doll gets it’s name. Bee is killed tragically in front of the Doll Maker and his wife, and that’s when this tragic tale begins.
Sister Charlotte played by Stephanie Sigman, and the girls from the Orphanage arrive twelve years later to the house. The Doll Maker played by Anthony Lapaglia welcomes the girls to his home which looks empty, but the girls are all over joyed to be at there new home. The Doll Maker’s wife played by the amazing Miranda Otto is nowhere to be seen in this introduction , and the girls are told by the Doll Maker that his wife was in an accident years ago and never comes out of the bedroom. These words are a precursor to what is to come, and also fills the girls with different tales that they would tell each other in stories late at night.
Shades of the Conjuring universe are shown when Sister Charlotte shows a picture from her old convent and the spooky nun from the Conjuring 2 appears in the shadows. The actors that portray the girls from the Orphanage do an excellent job. It has always impressed me how children can portray certain characters and make them so believable. As is the case with Janice played by Talitha Bateman, who is tormented by the demon doll, before possessing her body.
The scenes with the demon tormenting Janice are creepy and believable. All hell breaks loose once the demon has inhabited Janice’s body, and the Doll Maker and his wife are viciously murdered by the demon, but not before the Doll Maker’s wife tells Sister Charlotte the origin of the demon, and how it started haunting the couple. The flash back scenes showing the escalation of how the demon and the doll are causing mayhem are convincing and chilling to watch.
The girls are left on their own to fight the demon, and in a particular terrifying scene a Scarecrow hunts one of the girls in a shed, and will totally make you look twice at a Scarecrow. Sister Charlotte saves the day when she confronts Janice and the doll , eventually locking them in a closet. As the girls and Sister Charlotte wait outside the evil within the house seems to go haywire. The next day the police arrive and take the doll away, and we see a giant hole in the closet wall where Janice and the doll were locked in.
The ending of the film features a family arriving at an orphanage where we are surprised to see Janice, who now now goes by the name Annabelle. The family adopts Annabelle and then we fast forward twelve years later which sets up the opening to the original Annabelle movie. There are two scenes after the film ends that you might want to stick around and check out.
Annabelle Creation is a solid movie with a great story and an amazing cast. The jump scares pay off and the gore is done just right that it makes up for all the moments that the audience was staring in the dark. You might want to think twice about purchasing a doll in the upcoming holiday season.
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