Annabelle

Annabelle

Starring Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Tony Amendola, Alfre Woodard

Directed by John Leonetti

Synopsis:
Expecting parents Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and John (Ward Horton) experience a night of terror at the hands of two cult members who die in their home, the female committing suicide while cradling a doll John gave Mia.

Soon after, strange events begin to occur, and Mia doesn't feel safe in her home after a mysterious fire.  They move to an apartment complex where the events begin escalating, and it becomes clear to Mia that something is after her and especially her newborn baby.  Believing the devil is living inside her doll, she turns to Father Perez (Tony Amendola), but not even the church can help her.  The devil won't quit until he gets what he wants - a soul.

Review:
"Annabelle" is based off a real life account of a possessed doll (in reality, it was a Raggedy Ann doll, not a Victorian porcelain doll) that landed in the hands of world-famous demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, and which is mentioned in the beginning of James Wan's horror masterpiece "The Conjuring."  The actual doll still resides in the Warrens' house, and a priest blesses it twice a month.

Dolls, to me, are generally scary.  They're soulless human forms who just stare at nothing, and they can be really unnerving.  Whoever chose this doll was specifically evil, because I wondered who in the heck would think this type of doll was remotely cute - it looks pure evil even before it's possessed.

The movie wasn't a typical horror film, and followed a lot of the ways of "The Conjuring," where it makes you think about what's happening, and throws in several red herrings that sends your mind into different directions, all the while subtly scaring the heck out of you.  Unfortunately, some of the best scares are in the previews, so when I saw them on screen I was already anticipating them.

The acting wasn't anything incredible, but nothing terrible either.  Throwing in two relative newcomers as the leads though was a great idea, because it gives the film a more humanistic view.  You think it could happen to you, because you don't know who the main actors are.  If it were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, it would lose some of the mystery.  Alfre Woodard was pretty much a wasted character, but her presence raises some important questions before the finale.

What "Annabelle" did really well was creating an atmosphere of continual horror, even when nothing is happening.  You expect something to come out at any moment, and it leaves you on the edge of your seat.

Summary:
For doll lovers and doll fearers alike, "Annabelle" is a tense, atmospheric horror film that grips you and keeps your hold until the very end.

My Rating: A-