Annabelle

Every once in awhile a horror film uses a doll and it comes in all different ways. The classics like Poltergeist or the 2013 The Conjuring used it as as an element and not as a main plot device. The first type of doll movie that used a doll as a main character was Magic, a ventriloquist with a young Anthony Hopkins as the magician. It was in the 80's with the first Child's Play that changed the doll concept somewhat. Yes, he was another killer but the doll named Chucky was so revolutionary because he was a character and was actually given something to do. Due to the fact he was a children's doll, this made him even more creepy. Following after Chucky, there were similar dolls films like the Puppet Master series or Dolly Dearest which were clear inspirations for those to follow. Horror director James Wan is famous for following the trend of dolls in the 2000's with the torture film Saw, Dead Silence and of course The Conjuring. The doll concept is one that is hit or miss in films ultimately .    

Based off the The Conjuring doll Annabelle, Annabelle is a prequel to The Conjuring and showcases the doll before the events of The Conjuring. Set in 1967, the couple of Mia Form (Annabelle Wallis) and John Form (Ward Horton) are expecting their first child together. John gives Mia a doll she has been looking for as a pre-baby present and for the nursery that has been set up for her. You could definitely say that Mia is fan of dolls as the room is essentially a nursery filled with close to a dozen dolls. After a vicious attack at the house by people from a cult, the doll eventually becomes possessed from the cult member Annabel Higgins. The possessed doll is then ready to kill.

Being that The Conjuring was set in the 70's, it makes total sense as to why this film was set in the 60's. From the style including cars, houses, hospital and even showing an interesting clip of Maryland Manson, a infamous killer during this time, all of these are all examples of the 60's timeline being used. At the same time, the 60's aspect makes this film seem so silly. When is the last time you ever heard of woman during pregnancy on bed rest by a doctor? It is also so cheesy watching a couple trying to get reception on an old television. The baby is in an old baby carriage makes which me really question if this is stealing from the classic Rosemary's Baby.    

Annabelle ultimately along the way is a horror film where we should care about the characters. The couple surely is likable and going through the exact opposite of what they should be going through when trying to have a baby. The couple are too simple in substance though and really I didn't feel much sympathy for them unfortunately. The local book store owner Evelyn (Alfre Woodard) plays an original character which by the last act turns into a very predictable character and meets a very cheesy ending.                                                                                                                                             

If we boil it down to just one thing, the biggest problem with the film just might be the doll itself. The doll does have an interesting look and feel with its design and color. That said, we are never given an explanation of what makes this doll so special and why the mother thinks it is so. For the most part, this doll is sitting around in the background of scenes and really if we didn't know, this doll could be looked at as just a random doll in background shots. Not in any shape or form does this doll provide any types of scares. Not even small jump scenes.
 

                                                                                             

In the end, Annabelle is a big disappointment. The Conjuring was a film that was just asking for us to have this prequel because that movie made the doll so intriguing. We weren't asking for this type of prequel though as this movie is very boring, choppy, and lacks ideas. Annabelle is a film that will go down as one of the biggest misses in horror in quite some time.

1.5/5

The Conjuring

If you say you like horror, you would have to know James Wan. He is a director who's only made a impact since the 2000's but it's a big mark indeed. He first created Saw in 2004 which was a clever and original torture film that later turned into six more films. Dead Silence came next for him which I've never seen but it has killer dolls in the plot that comes off as original even in pre-watch. Even though more of a physiological film, he created Death Sentence in 2007 which can be described as a crime film. He went back horror in 2010 with Insidious which felt something similar to the classic Poltergeist, with a family getting haunted by a demon and Insidious 2 came in 2013.

With Wan announcing himself directing the next Fast and Furious, it's now safe to say that horror may be done for him and he's going in another direction. Regardless of where he's going, I'm going to support him because I am a fan of his. The Conjuring as possibly his last horror movie fits solidly into his filmography though.                                                                      

Based off a true story and set in the 70's, a family of six with five daughters move into a country house looking for a new start and really a new chapter on life. After what seems like random noises that could be found throughout any house, the Perron family starts to notice that these aren't random noises and they later contact paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Fleming) Warren. This is a haunted house film with also some homage to the 70's and of course it's horror.         

If you ever seen Wan's previous work,  Insidious which we have talked about, then you know what the The Conjuring is. Like Insidious, The Conjuring has a family, investigators and Patrick Wilson was also in Insidious.  Still though, The Conjuring is a film that works though it does lack  originality.                                                            

The list of why this works without originality is granted very long. Setting this movie in the 70's is fresh and innovating. Ed and Lorraine are the type of characters that are very interesting and the movie has a very cool premise. These are the type of characters I could watch quite often in movies to come. Lili Taylor in particular delivers a performance that stands above them all. The movie provides many scares, at least it did for me, and for a person who doesn't get scared by many things, that's definitely saying something. I can also appreciate the smart ending here that just makes you appreciate how much James Wan knows horror.                                    

With a sequel set to be put out in 2015 and spin-off film coming out the first week of October in 2014, the future of this film is far from over. It is something I am surely looking forward to. The Conjuring won't go down as Wan's best work but it won't be his worst work either. I would put it in the middle of his filmography.

4/5