Review of Annabelle (2014) by Foxgrove — 10 Oct 2014

Effective little chiller that benefits from some imagination in the direction and three or four scenes that are a credit to the genre. In fact the first real scene of horror is one of which Hitchcock could be proud.

The attractive leads are also better than the usual cyphers placed in these types of films and the story is generally quite logically played out. References to Polanski's 'Rosemary's Baby' abound and there are definitely shocks to be had along the way.

One sequence involving a sewing machine, a hob and some popcorn is cut to elicit maximum tension. Two supporting players are effectively presented with menacing undertones, but the movie's biggest mystery remains why anyone would want to own such a sinister looking doll in the first place.

The final scenes become somewhat predictable, but I must say that it sets up the scenario for last year's' The Conjuring' very nicely, and is actually preferable.