Annabelle Creation Review

Here’s my Annabelle Creation review which opens August 23 from Warner Bros. Pictures Philippines. The film stars Stephanie Sigman, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia and Talitha Bateman.

Annabelle: Creation was a surprise hit for me on several levels. One, its managed to sew together various plots from the different parts of the ‘Conjuring’ universe all the while having legs of its own. Secondly, they have good filmmaking moments here in this film, making it a promising contender as 2017’s horror film of the year. Thirdly, after all these years, its still creepy to see the Hollywood version of the Annabelle doll in the big screen. You think you’ve moved on already, but like an ex, once it’s there, you forget about moving on.

We have to thank the good folks at Warner Bros. Pictures PH for the invites, this Annabelle Creation review won’t possible without them.

Director David F. Sandberg crafts an interesting origin story for the ghastly doll from The Conjuring. We don’t have so much plot points in this movie. Just that there’s a dead little girl, demons and a creepy doll with a bunch of orphaned little girls. While I don’t want to ruin the film for you, there are several things you need to keep your eyes peeled while watching. Look out for Valak who makes an appearance here in the film twice.

Gore and violence is still present in this horror flick but its not the driving factor. Instead we turn to good old suspense. It’s the feeling of what’s bumping in the dark and what’s trying to haunt the poor girls in living with the Mullens. It’s whatever eerie feeling in the first act of the film. It’s that lingering feeling that you’re being watched. All of this gets conveyed properly in the movie.

To be honest, I’ve skipped a lot of horror movies over the past year or so but The Conjuring-verse keeps me coming back. I’ve never felt terror in a horror movie since the first Conjuring movie. Does that mean anything? Yes, it means that they are back to fighting form again.

The film is crippled with 2-dimensional characters, filling the typical tropes of horror movies. But the one that really stands out would have to be Linda played by Lulu Wilson. She’s charming and innocent and while the whole thing scares the fuck out of her, she’s brave enough to go head to head with the creature that’s taken her friend. It was also a good choice to make her the focal point in the second act of Annabelle: Creation.

Lastly I have to applaud the way they wrote the ending. That sure was a surprise, seeing how they actually connected “Creation” with the first Annabelle movie. Was it brilliant? I’m not convinced, but I say it was a good way to tracking back to the overall story.

Score – B+