Review of Annabelle: Creation (2017) by Kevin F — 03 Sep 2017

James Wan's Toys.

John R. Leonetti was the filmmaker who inaugurated a growing phase oriented by stand-alone movies winded in the luxuriant universe erected, without even knowing, by master James Wan. This world of stories, whose anthroponym is "The Conjuring", each one based on a minimum or maximum rebuttable inspiration, has become the representative of horror, par excellence, of the 21st century. With an alarming rapidity, it's more prominent creating dissimilar works that share, together, a tone or plot element within the audiovisual entertainment industry, to mention only a small fraction: "Star Wars" for Lucasfilm, the MCU for Marvel, the DCU for DC or "Cloverfield" for Bad Robot. However, what New Line Cinema and its writer's guild are conceiving now, appeal to unbelievably unusual ideas in order to set up a gallery of pristine horror files. Having in it two installments directed by Wan and one spin-off by Leonetti, this universe is close to welcoming three new proposals, a high number that looks risking the complex quality that has managed to keep in the franchise. Although two of these won't be released until next year, the prequel of "Annabelle" (2014), has recently been affiliated through a story that radically distances itself from the effects of its predecessor, delivering a new wave of successes for Warner Bros, David F. Sandberg and his universe as such. Sacred Wan!

Twelve years after the tragic death of their little daughter, a doll-maker and her consort will receive an orphaned group of infants along with its religious leader to shelter them into their home. Soon, the girls will witness the bad times that will embrace the dwelling, strange events occur by substrates of the past that meteorically take the form of a malignant doll.

Discovered by mainstream monster YouTube, David F. Sandberg was gradually capturing recognition right across social media at the expense of his terrifying two-minute-and-forty-two-second short film titled "Lights Out". Through this, Swedish director got Warner to focus on him, seizing ambitious direction possibilities, some as negligible and trivial as directing the feature film of his successful short, sit in the chair of the director within the DC universe with "Shazam!" and now, stand behind the "Annabelle" prequel. The triumph and growth experienced by the filmmaker are incredible and enviable, in the good sense of the word, he exhorts young voices, via websites, that, to this day, can seep, with virtue or not, in the world mecca of cinema. There are multiple anecdotes attested throughout the new millennium, Federico "Fede" Alvarez, Andy Muschietti and even Wan received consent and financial support of the major studios with audiovisual interventions launched either in film festivals or online via Internet.

Sandberg has gotten a place within horror films, a genre going in vertiginous decay. With the help of his inseparable wife and a considerable barrage of wonderful ideas, the filmmaker officially inserts himself into Hollywood beast, being one of the lucky few to make his professional maturity in the core point of the seventh art. He has been a perfect choice, cover to cover, to give the diabolical doll a new appearance radically, after the dissenting treatment three years ago. It becomes evident pleasure by muted colors, emphasized by his most employed resource: darkness. Its participation was overused in his previous work, however, uncertainty and contingency base their point of edification in it, handling it with always well-received blind spots or always unwelcome dull scares. The dimensions, framing and editing qualities, distinctive of the filmmaker, make presence in function of creating differential properties, without aggravating, in the slightest, the aura of the universe, that vintage atmosphere that cements the meticulous features in a progressive construction, of course, integrating effective jump-scares and sound resonances. That is precisely what makes these films so compelling within the commercial landscape, since each one of the stories, always supervised by Wan, develop a solid connection with the audience using as a medium the touching performances of the able actors, manufacturing movies that, although they are executed in a majestic way, technically speaking, there is room for superfluous and provisional scares. The director knows these parameters in advance and he orchestras them in a frightening and excessive way, in equal proportion. "The Conjuring" is characterized by deploying a delicious preparation to reach the point of shock, the long and disturbing is that path and less info is released to the spectators, using any kind of infantile apprehension, the better the effect will be. So, on this occasion, Sandberg, besides considering the darkness as a key piece, uses dolls, puppets, scarecrows, silhouettes under sheets and even nuns in order to, verbatim, fill up with jump-scares the second and third act, indubitably, most of these apply the previously exposed rule, optimizing the results, however, the story tends to lose and even to squander the impact of the scare, making us doubt about where the characters are really going, and not predicting their actions that can be intercepted by a superhuman entity. This tendency becomes more prevailing due to the inexperience of the director, never in the horror genre, but in the layer of the franchise, aptitudes that he exhibited almost with vainglory the Malay director. Nevertheless, there is no reason to complain, many more gruesome things could happen in the film, and what Sandberg has conceived is a mixture of Hollywood and horror of quantity and quality in its purest state.

Broadly speaking, the plot and the mythology are adequately connected, dramatic moments are fairly placed among sequences of distress and it even resorts, with evident respect, to the alternation of emotions technique that Wan established in "The Conjuring 2 ", interspersing horror intervals with modest but substantial comical interventions. The development flows smoothly and there are no major drawbacks to the sub-universe that builds, however, the elements relapse into unending stereotypes, such as obligatory religious presence on the part of the nun or the increase in mortality in the final act, eliminating characters without any motive, an insane movement to some extent. To grip audiences, writers must produce characters that are interesting and this universe knows that very well. A pregnant woman, a ruined family or a girl suffering from polio are people with any kind of disabilities used in order to originate grief, a feeling that allows to strike up in a strong character-spectator relationship, getting we follow horrified the troubles experienced by the actors. Another very present aspect is the exorbitant amount of horror lodestones with which the film plays, although incredibly most of the demonic entities of the previous films won their own movie, Sandberg's movie seemed to want to do the same thing, packing with out-of-control Dantesque creatures, something works against the final result, since if they skip three of them, it would have been a frightening trip in the same way.

Stephanie Sigman, Anthony LaPaglia, and Miranda Otto portray the older characters in a fascinating way, applauding the first one as the leader and faithful protector of the girls, however, and not belittling their very decent performances, the interpretative focus is explicitly over the younger actresses, especially Lulu Wilson, who did a spectacular job last year with "OUIJA: Origin of Evil" and this time ratifies her potential and ability to execute harder scenes with the most disinterested ease.

Visually, the production design and the atmosphere testify the measured budget, moving away from large cities that would have required a lot of more adaptation from the 50's and thus a rise in the cost, this time everything acquires a rustic and powerful nuance, the housing trapped under litigant solar rays, a group of clothing, decorations and practical effects are those who take those green dollar bills. The game, in which darkness and cool and warm colors intervene, works in the tension moments, also the sequences of habituation and drama manage to catch the audience, components nothing short of stunning by employing an ordinary bed, a room armored by the pages of the Sacred Scriptures or an enigmatic well to conceive horror. Exclusive distinction deserves creation of the dissimilar Dantesque conduits maneuvered by an already classic Satan, which fulfill their function with honors, causing the possibility of-Hollywood is a box of surprises-adding more standalone films in it.

There is a striking absence of the compositions of master Joseph Bishara, who was a key factor in the success of the other installments, among these "Insidious". The music is vital in products like these, sound stridency, resonances or atmosphere scores created by the composer are unique and they are greatly missed here, at least, so that sorrow is not so sharp, Bishara was present in the motion picture, for he's who performs the wicked devil. However, Benjamin Wallfisch and the sound editors team up to produce a soundly effective experience, accentuating steps, crunches, breaths, tones and suffocating sequences in a surprising way.

"Annabelle: Creation" by David F. Sandberg is one of those rare, functional and spooky sequels/prequels arriving late summer and in the 21st century, two periods thirsting for original ideas, being an excellent film that joins the universe of "The Conjuring" with complacency. Although to narrative dimensions doesn't equal the main films, but it gets to execute sequences of tension and drama using as a means the most intrinsic fears of human, taking them even to such a pass that you will be impossible to take a breath, literally, look left and there's a scare, look right there's another scare, look up, down, in any direction, this evil circus won't stop attacking until committing its purposes. Advocating for old school horror, "Annabelle"(2017) is the perfect addition to the world of devilish toys and to verify its veracity I invite you to carry out the following experiment: Turn the light off, leave your bedroom door open and don't stop looking at that black space that separates your bed from hell, is she there?