As promising as the first few scenes are, Annabelle quickly loses steam, and its own identity. This prequel to James Wan’s The Conjuring fails to separate itself from the pack, as it offers up the same old scares and tense score as Wan’s previous installments. What violence does occur is shocking, twisted, and uncomfortable, but it’s so few and far between that it takes away from the overall impact of the terror. The characters feel relatively safe, despite their grievances. Perhaps it’s because John handles a doll mysteriously reappearing, and his wife complaining about ghosts in such a nonchalant manner, like such occurrences are fairly common in most suburban 1960s homes. All they need is a little therapy, and they’ll be right as rain.
Mere hours before Mia is attacked, she’s watching a program on Charles Manson and his many devoted followers. Once she becomes aware that her predators belonged to a cult themselves, Mia digs deeper into her case file, and finds out that she and her husband weren’t just victims of a random break in, but were actually meant to be sacrificed in an act of devotion to Satan. Soon, strange happenings begin to take place in their new home, like Mia’s forever-smiling figurine winding up in different places, and doors slamming shut by themselves. As Mia takes a pregnant pause to gather her thoughts, she begins to wonder if the doll that somehow found its way back to her might have something to do with all of the paranormal activity she’s recently encountered.
With the historical significance of Charles Manson and his followers during the 1960s, Annabelle missed the opportunity to be an edgy, unique film, and instead cautiously kept to what’s been done before. By having the film center around a family experiencing demonic activity, Annabelle offers more of the same, and becomes more of a remake of Insidious rather than a prequel to The Conjuring. It’s really frustrating, not just because it’s mostly the same tricks and jump scares, but because a movie named Annabelle should be about the doll, Annabelle.
Despite its flaws, there are some truly unnerving moments that are characteristic of a much more ominous film. The brutal opening sequences are so bloody and gruesome that it sets expectations high for a much harsher film, but winds up being somewhat tame. The Annabelle doll is so foreboding at first, with her ridiculously ecstatic smile and child-like size, it’s hard not to be frightened by her. It seems that this will be a face that will haunt dreams, and cause kids to tape up their toys so as not to find them creeping about during the night. However, as the film goes on, it becomes clear that the doll is not the focal point of the story, and is almost completely cast aside, losing the ingredient that made the movie so scary in the first place.
If you’re a fan of James Wan, and you’re okay with little to no deviation from what you’ve seen in the past, you’ll enjoy this film. If you’re looking for something new and sinister, you won’t find it here.
