Review of Annabelle: Creation (2017) by Jacob M — 19 Aug 2017

Annabelle: Creation - Review (2017).

The Good.

It's A Major Improvement Over The First Film (Annabelle 2014 was fucking terrible).

The Excellent Young Cast - Talitha Bateman as physically disabled orphan Janice and Lulu Wilson (who was also so good in last year's Ouija: Origin of Evil) as her pal Linda, are especially impressive and help bring plenty of humanity to the table.

Bad child actors can sink any movie no matter how good it otherwise is, but thankfully producer James Wan has a real knack for casting talented kids in all of these Conjuring Universe movies.

Though some of the orphan actresses do admittedly look a little old for their age (some of them are in their early-to-mid twenties and it shows), they make for a compelling team of terrified characters all the same, and yes, they can scream with the best of them.

David F. Sandberg's Impressive Direction.

Stephanie Sigman's Compelling Performance.

It's Creepy & Atmospheric - Though the scares themselves are pretty hit-and-miss, Sandberg does a fine job building a creepy and unsettling mood from the outset. It's easy to get wrapped up in this world and believe what's going on, compared to the first movie, which never really rose above bland actors playing out a pretend scary movie on a film set.

Thanks to the sharp cinematography and compelling cast, Creation builds up an uneasy sense of dread that permeates throughout, even though it's sometimes upended by the film's aforementioned divergences into campy territory.

The Smart, Satisfying Ending.

The Bad.

There are way too many jump scares that feel empty and not scary, for as many good decisions as the movie makes, it's a damn shame there are so many excessive jump scares in this film. From first minute to last, director David F. Sandberg peppers his film with lazy, obnoxious jumps that can be seen coming a mile off and so end up more irritating and arbitrary than thrilling.

More to the point, even something as simple as a toy gun being fired or someone entering a room will be mixed to be incredibly loud merely for the sake of a ridiculous jump, and barely more than a few minutes go by without yet another one assaulting the audience.

The film is good enough that it really didn't need to rely on such crusty old tricks, and it ends up proving an irritation that detracts from the overall experience.

Anthony LaPaglia & Miranda Otto Are Mostly Wasted.

Annabelle's Origin Story Isn't That Interesting -.

It's not a terrible origin story by any means, just the most simplistic and generic route they could've gone. "Functional" might be the best descriptor: it's neat and tidy but totally uninspired and derived from any number of other horror movies.

The Tone Is All Over The Place - As is a problem with many big studio horror movies, there are many times where the film's tone seems to waver, and it's unclear whether the audiences is supposed to be scared or amused.

A number of the film's big scares, particularly those involving visual effects, are more campy and goofy than scary, which makes the film feel more like a Sam Raimi movie at times rather than a legitimately scary horror flick.

Overall: Major Improvement even though its a prequel its one of the better prequels and hopefully a good start in The Conjuring spin offs.

Overall Grade: C+.