[Review] Annabelle: Creation (5/10)

For every movie that comes out from James Wan's The Conjuring universe, it has achieved the top spot in its opening weekend in the United States. That has got to stand for something.

Annabelle: Creation, the prequel to the spin-off Annabelle, some would argue is the better movie of the two. I would argue for it as well but just ever so slightly.

What really worked from director David F. Sandberg, was the first half where the story and characters were built up. Even though it was just a typical horror storyline and nowhere near what The Conjuring achieved, Sandberg did a good job creating this world.

There was a great scene where the girl was holding the doll and running across the field towards the well. She turned to look behind her and we suddenly got a scary view of the doll but it was done so naturally by Sandberg. That was an achievement.

And in the final 20 minutes or so, it was just scare after scare after scare, to the point where I even felt out of breath as I didn't realise I was holding holding it.

But it was also in these last 20 minutes that things got confusing. Were there two demons, one in the doll and one in the scarecrow? That was not explained properly. And was it The Nun that showed up as well? But why, other than just for the sake of making a cameo before we get its solo movie next?

There were also a lot of stupid decisions made by most of the young characters. I could ask a lot of whys and it would just be frustrating. They are all bits and pieces of a typical Hollywood horror movie that makes no sense.

There has to be a set of rules here. For example, if the possessed person can phase through walls in one scene, then there will be no reason that it needs to be banging on locked doors. Why would the demon require the girl to find the doll in the first place, since it was already dropping pieces of paper outside doors?

And some of the deaths here were gruesome, and that became very inconsistent with what the demon could do or choose to not do.

By the end of the movie, and this is where i should put up a SPOILER WARNING; we were linked directly to the first Annabelle movie. But why would the demon wait that long, years, before committing murder again?

The potential for a horror flick was great from Sandberg, but the writing was another failure yet again. I now fear for The Nun as it is also written by Gary Dauberman.