Review of Annabelle: Creation (2017) by Flipje — 11 May 2022

There are some horror films that are classics. They redefine the genre and they remain genuinely scary and essential with every viewing. Sandberg impressed me with Lights Out', a film I was surprised to enjoy.

But hey, when you break it down and a writer and director invest in their characters, and give the audience someone both to identify with and root for, the scares end up becoming more meaningful because a talented team of artists had invested in their work.

That approach, it's going to resonate people. Here, the approach started off decent. I was at first sympathetic to the Mullins and their loss in the opening. Then, I briefly fell for the unlikely group of orphans moving into the Mullin's household.

But as the characters remained flat stereotypes doing typical dumb things and the Mullins remained drab and uninteresting, and the cliched scares piled up, I ended up giving up. Some people say, you cannot review a film until you have completed it.

Nah. If I lose interest in the characters, that is part of my viewing experience and this review is related to that aspect of seeing a film. When your characters are daft and bland and the scares are the only thing holding the movie together, you got nothing.

There's no steak here, just the spice and that's no reason to keep watching a film. It's not a genuine entertaining experience, more an exercise in futility. Or rather, self-punishment. Watching uninspired characters do things done better in other films is no way to spend an evening.

If you plan to be forgiving and shut off a critical part of your brain, sure, give this a whirl. Otherwise, there is better fare to explore. Like a plate of spice, this is not going to fill my appetite.