Review of Annabelle (2014) by Tyler R — 16 May 2015

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That's all well and good, but when a director not only (painfully and misguidedly) copies another director's style, while stealing from quite a few better films, then we have ourselves a problem.

Annabelle sheds light on the possessed doll and where she came from. Did this even warrant a full film? After sitting through this, I can easily say it didn't. The back story for the doll is not only robbed from a much better, and iconic, horror film, but it just reeks of laziness.

The film seems to pander around for an hour or so, never really sure what to do or where to go. That's the biggest problem with this film: It even feels as if it has no purpose. We saw the doll in The Conjuring, where we were given some enticing tidbits.

And that's what it should have stayed at. A feature film for the doll only tarnishes the original. Speaking of tarnishing, director John R. Leonetti attempts to recreate James Wan's directing style from the first, but he fails miserably.

It becomes apparent very early on that he is overdoing it, without even trying to do anything of his own. And then there's the acting. They work with what they're given, which can be boiled down to three categories: The skeptic, The Victim, and The Believer.

All three play their parts to the best of their ability, but they are unable to transcend their stereotypical characters. By the time it ends, and it does so on such a nonsensical and abrupt note, the viewer is left waiting patiently for The Conjuring 2, and rapidly clearing their mind of this mess of a film.