The much anticipated prequel to The Conjuring, what I considered to be the best horror film out of Hollywood since the first Paranormal activity, Annabelle.
Annabelle was written by Gary Dauberman and directed by John R. Leonetti(Mortal Kombat: Annihilation). I must say I was excited for this movie. I am a lover of the horror genre, classics like Rosemary’s Baby, Nightmare On Elm Street and Halloween(John Carpenter). I was immensely disappointed when finally going to see Annabelle to find out that it is nothing new or special.
First, the script from a writer that has written nothing but low budget straight to DVD horror films. I don’t expect Oscar worthy performances or dialogue from a horror, just a script that makes sense, Annabelle doesn’t even deliver on that. Cliche after cliche with no effort to avoid them. The story is predictable. Possessed something, scared family that cant leave for an idiotic reason AND EVEN A PRIEST.
The movie evokes no sense of horror or thrill, every “scare” is a cheap jump scare from something stupid like a cat or a bird or some loud noise happening abruptly. Second the director, even though he’s worked on more films that have actually been in theaters his body of work isn’t impressive either. Although, being the cinematographer for The Conjuring and Insidious 1 & 2 he does know how to make a good looking movie. The set and props look eerie and make you feel as though you are going to witness something terrifying but that’s all a ruse unfortunately, What you are actually delivered is another cash grab horror that doesn’t try at all to at least deliver the cliche’s of horror with any flare or excitement.
I’ll give props where they are due though, to the people who made the credits, thank you for letting me know that the movie was finally over. Annabelle was a huge disappointment and in my opinion just a horrible movie, but I will say if you’re a fan of predictable jump scares, cliché story and bad acting than this is your kind of movie.