Like 'Ouija: Origin of Evil' before it, 'Annabelle: Creation' somehow manages to be a vastly superior follow up to the abysmal 2013 spin-off film. Then again, when you get a director who knows his stuff like David F. Sandberg, who did one of my personal favorite horror films from last year 'Lights Out' you're bound to get a better end product. That's not to say 'Creation' doesn't have its flaws but given the slow year for horror we've been having I'd say it's better than nothing. The film is yet another prequel to 'The Conjuring' but also a prequel film to 'Annabelle' which has broken my brain. This film wishes to show its audience the real real reason behind the doll's infamous history as it torments and spooks a home of orphaned young girls, searching for a host to inhabit and spread its evil outside the porcelain doll.
First things first, the film has an excellent cast who perform excellently. When a horror movie has a primary character list of children, that task is easier said than done. Most child characters in horror almost always come off as annoying, generic, or they do the dumbest things just to progress the story along and give a false sense of tension and danger. 'Annabelle: Creation' avoids this by having some of the best written child protagonists for a horror film in some time and as an added bonus, the writer actually makes us care for these young girls and relate to them as real people and not just cookie cutter horror fodder. In particular, I loved young Lulu Wilson who also starred in 'Ouija' and she's quickly becoming one of my favorite new horror stars as she is a strong performer despite her age. I hope she goes real far, and the same goes for Talitha Bateman who plays the primary target of the doll's malevolence Janice. It's a good thing she is such a talented actress too because Janice above all the rest needed to have a strong performance behind her and I'm glad to say Bateman pulled it off.
The film was shot really nice too, with many wide and distant shots showing off the creepy and isolated vibe Sandberg was going for. For a horror film in 2017, it's also surprising to see that it has color to it, at least more than other horror outings in the last decade. I'm not quite sure when it became film law that all films in the genre needed to be dull greys, blues, and grimy greens like 'SAW' but it's getting really old so kudos to 'Annabelle 2' for trying to stand out from the rest. Now what didn't I like? Well, I'm not particularly fond of this 'shared universe' angle that Warner/New Line wish to go in for 'The Conjuring' and its spin-offs. A villainous apparition from 'Conjuring 2' only known as 'The Nun' makes a rather forced and frankly unwelcome cameo in 'Creation' just to set up the upcoming 2018 film. It's so shoehorned that it's just frustrating and pointless as the very idea of mentioning the demon nun or that a character in this film was somehow involved with her amounts to nothing in the film at hand.
The film also tends to pull cheap scares once too often, with the usual loud noise or a 'Boo!' moment but thankfully the film builds proper tension and thrills for the most part and these cheaper moments are extremely brief. Overall, 'Annabelle: Creation' surprised me as I actually cared about the film the whole way through. I liked the characters, I pitied them, felt scared for them, and really felt sad when they were struck with tragedy. Horror films so rarely do this and while that may not be your reason for seeing them, it's my main reason for recommending it. If you're just looking for the scary aspects and don't care about that deeper stuff, then I believe you'll still be satisfied with 'Annabelle: Creation' as it builds up horror and dread really well and that doll is freaking creepy. It's nice to see a horror film worth a damn in theaters again.
( A - )
P.S. Be sure to stay after the credits for a little spooky surprise...
