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Movie Reviews, Movies

Annabelle: Creation – Movie Review

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You are my sunshine, 

My only sunshine.

You make me happy,

When skies are gray.

You’ll never know, dear,

How much I love you.

I’m going to take your soul away.

That’s how it goes, right?

I guess.

So the universe created in The Conjuring continues to expand, this time with a spine-tingling origin story of the wonderfully creepy porcelain doll, Annabelle.  If you’ve seen every installment in The Conjuring “series,” you should already be well-prepared for this movie.

The Annabelle doll, first introduced in The Conjuring and further expanded on in 2014’s Annabelle, finally gets her own horror movie worth a few screams.   I wasn’t too impressed with the first movie.  It just was a little too predictable and boring, but this one – oh man, this one.

Warning: Here Be Spoilers

We start with the actual making of the doll by Mr. Mullins, played by Anthony LaPaglia, and a too-cute version of hide and seek with his daughter, affectionately called Bee and played by up-and-coming child actress, Samara Lee.

Side note: If her parents aren’t fans of The Ring, I’ll eat my keyboard.

Ms. Mullins, played by Miranda Otto, joins in on the fun, and we’re shown how happy life is in the Mullins household.  This being a horror movie, we know this little love fest won’t last long.  Sorry to break it to you, but Bee (whose full name we later learn is – you guessed it – Annabelle) ends up getting killed.

Flash forward 12 years later, and 6 orphaned girls are on their way to stay at the Mullins’s home until they’re able to be adopted.  They’re given almost full run of the house except for the Mullins’s bedroom and the locked bedroom of little Bee.

One of the girls is enticed to come inside Bee’s room by an unseen entity.  Of course, this is where the doll lurks, locked in a secret room lined with pages from the Holy Bible.  The girl opens Annabelle’s chamber, and that’s all she wrote.  The evil is released, and terror befalls the house.

We learn from Ms. Mullins that she and her husband had bargained with whatever force would allow them to have their daughter back in any way.  They invited what they thought was their daughter’s spirit into the doll, but what entered was actually a demonic presence.  Ms. Mullins ended up getting half her face along with one eye carved up and charred.

Don’t mess with a demon, people.

Who? Me?

We’re treated to several jump scares, some gruesome injuries/deaths, multiple appearances by THE demonic presence, and the lurking shadow of Annabelle throughout the movie. And yes, I said treated to jump scares.  I know a lot of horror fans hate when movies rely on these, but I have to say they’re very well-balanced with actual horror in Annabelle: Creation.  It’s just enough to keep us jumpy and invested in what’s going on.

I was very impressed with the effects and very happy with how they tied the movie to the 2014 version.  I don’t even want to go into details on it.  You should just see for yourself.  I love a good tie-in/movie connection.  It’s probably why I love the Saw franchise so much with all its interconnected craziness, and I love that this movie ties into not only 2014’s Annabelle, but The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2.

Oh?  How does it tie into The Conjuring 2, you ask?  Well, the demon nun makes not one, but two appearances.  Two!  One in passing in a photograph and then with an after credits scene.  I was wriggling in my seat, I was so happy.  If you’re not already aware, the demon nun is another expansion of this universe with the release of her own movie, The Nun, coming in 2018.  I know. Exciting stuff.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the acting in this film.  Everyone does a great job. Talitha Bateman plays Janice, and she’s the lucky girl that both releases Annabelle and gets possessed by the demonic presence later in the movie.  Bateman gets a huge point for the sinister portrayal of her character’s possessed self.  She’s supposed to be creepy, and is she ever.

Lulu Wilson, playing Linda, Janice’s best friend, also does a wonderful job, and I wasn’t surprised.  She was great in Ouija: Origin of Evil, so I knew I’d like her in this.  And this time, she got to be the one on the other side of the possession, so that’s nice.  I say she’s 2 for 2 in her horror movie origin story run.  I thought it was pretty funny that she was in both this prequel and the prequel to Ouija, which both far surpass their originals.  Keep ’em coming, Lulu.

So should you go see this one?  If you enjoyed The Conjuring 1 and 2, I say go for it.  Hell, if you enjoyed the 2014 Annabelle, I say definitely go for it because you won’t be disappointed after that train wreck.

Oh!  And bonus, they put in a little Easter egg concerning the REAL Annabelle doll.  You’ll like it.  Trust me.

Movie Reviews, Movies

5 Things You Should Know Before You See The Conjuring 2

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The big week is here!  The Conjuring 2 comes out this Friday, and I couldn’t be more excited.  Seriously.  I’m doing a little happy dance right now (which actually makes typing this post a little difficult, so I’m going to stop).

But we do have a lot to be excited about.  The story is badass, it has some great actors, and it’s already getting great reviews.  Plus, James Wan came back to direct instead of lending his skills to Fast 8.  The guy knows his horror.  A lot of scary movies nowadays (easy now, grandma) don’t have the right tone or try too hard, so I’m glad Wan was able to put his touch on this one.

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All that being said, I highly recommend you go see this movie. And if you are being smart and planning on seeing it in theaters, here are a few pieces of trivia to make you seem cool in front of your friends:

1.  Ed and Lorraine Warren are real people who have investigated a number of famous, creepy cases.  They were involved in the investigation of the Amityville murders as well as the story at the heart of the 2009 movie, The Haunting in Connecticut. And, of course, there was Annabelle.

Ed passed away in 2006, but Lorraine is still around and even had a cameo in the classroom scene in The Conjuring.

2. Although the Warrens are the main protagonists of The Conjuring 2, they actually had very little to do with the Enfield Poltergeist case.  They were invited to the investigation, but so were a lot paranormal researchers and investigators.  But I think we all like Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson enough that we can let this one slide.

3.  Although the movie is based – however loosely- on true events, there are many who believe the whole thing was a hoax.  A series of pictures showing one of the daughters “levitating” are believed  by many (including myself) to just be her jumping off her bed.  Others claim to have seen the daughters bending spoons to use as evidence of a haunting, and one of the daughters even said the house wasn’t haunted in an interview before being told to shut up by her sister.

4. But those involved swear that although the children involved might have embellished some things, other creepy events were all too real, including moving furniture witnessed by a number of people and strange noises heard in the house.

5. Some Philippine viewers of the first movie claimed to have strange, creepy feelings after watching it, so Catholic priests were brought in to bless people before subsequent viewings.  The set of The Conjuring 2 was blessed by a priest before shooting began, so you should be okay.

Bonus trivia: If you’ve watched The Conjuring (and I have an inkling you have), you are already aware of the Warren’s famous case about Annabelle.  You probably also know there was a movie loosely based on the story.  What you might not know is that the actual Annabelle doll is far from the creepy-looking doll from hell depicted in the movie.  She’s just a Raggedy Ann doll that got a little frisky who now resides in a protected box in the museum Lorraine Warren manages in the back of her Connecticut home.

So who’s going this weekend?  Let me know what you think of the movie in the comments.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.