Annabelle: Creation

Annabelle: Creation

Starring Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Miranda Otto

Directed by David F. Sanberg

The Story:
Set in the 40s or 50s, devout couple Sam (Anthony LaPaglia) and Esther (Miranda Otto) are living a peaceful life with their young daughter Annabelle (Samara Lee), when tragedy strikes and Annabelle is killed.  Twelve years later, Sam invites nun Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) and a small group of orphan girls to live at the house.

Janice (Talitha Bateman) suffers from polio and is the physically weakest girl, and is immediately attacked by a supernatural force that haunts the house, and specifically a creepy looking doll.  The demon wants her soul, and she lives in fear, only her friend Linda (Lulu Wilson) believes her.  As the evil spirit grows stronger, its pull becomes tighter on Janice and threatens to overtake her very soul.

The Synopsis:
"Annabelle: Creation" is the fourth film in "The Conjuring" universe, and while the idea is nothing new, director David F. Sanberg - best known for his creepily effective "Lights Out" - delivers a solid prequel story about the creepy doll of our nightmares by utilizing a compelling story, terrific acting and an overbearing sense of dread that grips the viewer from the opening to end.

The original Annabelle doll is a simple Raggedy Ann doll and doesn't look half as terrifying as the porcelain possessed puppet, but as usual films based off true events often embellish the story.  Shown for only a few moments in the first "The Conjuring," the doll was so eerie that it garnered its own spinoff story, and was done fairly well.  This film goes back in time and looks at how the doll was originally inhabited by evil, and is easily the most embellished story in the franchise - I'm pretty sure none of what happened actually did.  Still, that doesn't make it any less terrifying.

The cinematography is stellar, as the film focuses on a farmhouse in the literal middle of nowhere, where the terror takes place.  Sanberg makes great use of natural lighting and shadows to heighten his terrifying tale, making you look in the shadows for evil glowing eyes.  The house is looming and uninviting - even though the orphan girls love it - and adds to the dread and fear for the audience.  The pure isolation itself is alarming, as you know when it all hits the fan, there's no easy escape. Plus you'll never hear "You Are My Sunshine" the same way again.

The cast does a stellar job at the solid script they received, especially the two young leads.  Talitha Bateman plays Janice, an orphan girl suffering from polio and the subject of the demon's torture, mostly because she's the physically weakest in the group.  Bateman has a natural sense of power to her performance, but also severe vulnerability and fear that grips you from the start.  She's a wholly innocent girl stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time, and seeing what the evil does to her is truly disheartening and frightening.  Lulu Wilson - who herself dealt with her own demonic possession in the equally stellar origin story "Ouija: Origin of Evil" - has a natural innocence about her, with her bright, big, expressive eyes that showcases her true fear and also a sense of innocence and strength.  They tackle this very adult-themed film with gusto, and are a huge part of why the film plays off so well.

The demon itself is terrifying, and from the get-go it lets us know it's there.  From creaking doors and paced footsteps to growls and glowing eyes, it's the ever-present trouble that haunts our characters and our nightmares.  It's effective in scaring the living daylights out of us with its truly evil nature, and overbearing presence. 

The only small critique I have is with the doll itself.  Not so much possessed as used as a conduit, the series doesn't seem to know how to properly utilize it.  We expect to see it standing by itself and walking around, but we don't see it.  Yet we see the head turning and rocking in a chair by itself.  If it's truly possessed, it should be able to move and act like a sentient being, but as a conduit it should be stationary and basically just a doll, but the series sets it somewhere in the middle.  Still, it's effectively scary.

The Summary:
With very few stellar horror movies out there lately - especially a sequel/prequel - "Annabelle: Creation" effectively utilizes all the horror tropes to churn out a terrifying film that's every part the original's equal, and stands out as a stellar horror prequel.

The Score: A