Review of Annabelle: Creation (2017) by Dave C — 13 Aug 2017

Horror movie fans are some of the toughest critics to please, and there is no real answer to how to please them. Hitting the mark with a good horror film is unpredictable as it is dependent on a number of uncertain intangibles. But every once in a while a film comes along that finds a way to hit the mark. Annabelle is one of those films. It's not a perfect film, but dang if it gets the art of the scare. I haven't had as much fun in a theatre full of people in a long time. Everyone was interacting with the screen, which tells me the film was more than effective in what it set out to do.

Creation is what the original Annabelle hoped to be. It fits in the Conjuring universe, and continues the success of the franchise, even offering it a few more distinct flavours. The story is slow and sparse, but the editing is crafted with great fluidity and purpose. We move from character to character without too much clutter, but with just enough to know where they fit in the larger picture. This is not an in depth character study, and it is one of those films that is probably better for that. It is simply giving us context for the doll. And that is ultimately what I went to see Annabelle for.