Annabelle, the freaky looking doll-with-a-demon from James Wan’s The Conjuring gets her very own spin-off movie. I really enjoyed The Conjuring so does Annabelle have the same appeal? Set in 1969 with the Manson murders as a backdrop ‘Annabelle’ opens similarly to The Conjuring with the same footage of two Nurses talking about sinister goings on since they received the doll as a gift. This is based on the real life story of ‘Annabelle the doll’ from the case-book of real life ghost hunters and Demonologists Lorraine and Ed Warren.
The prologue is brief and the action switches to expectant Catholic parents Mia and John (A nod to Rosemary’s Baby). Mia is a collector with a penchant for ugly dolls. The latest addition, the doll we’re all here to see is a gift from her doting husband. Things take a sinister turn when their neighbours’ missing daughter Annabelle Higgins returns home one night from a satanic cult on a homicidal mission killing her parents and attacking Mia and John in the process.
In a suicide bid Annabelle slashes her throat whilst holding onto the doll. A single drop of blood drops onto the doll’s face and is hungrily absorbed and thus Annabelle is transferred to the doll with whatever satanic forces she was involved with. Mia and her unborn child survive and they try to get life back on track but things start getting a little strange. Annabelle the doll seems to change position by herself. The paranormal activity escalates and Annabelle is put in the trash and the family moves to an apartment for a fresh start but what’s that hiding in the last box…miss me?
The trouble with Annabelle is its script and central performances. Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton portray a couple so dull and lifeless you honestly couldn’t care if they lived or died. I didn’t believe for a second that Mia was a doll collector or that she’d have a doll as freakishly evil looking as Annabelle anywhere near their new daughter especially after the carnage. When the devilish doll is placed lovingly above the baby on the display shelf you wonder if she’s been placed next to Mia’s collection of crack pipes. Frustratingly the film relies heavily on jump scares and loud bangs but there is one tense scene with a Demon (played by the terrifying Joseph Bishara who also provided the film’s score) and a jammed elevator door. Admittedly I was quite scared but out of 97 minutes that was it.
The only other scene of note was a baby-in-peril moment but is cut short before any tension can properly build. Not much is made about their Catholic faith either which could have played a much bigger part; perhaps they could have had a hysterical live-in Nun to liven things up a bit. Another thing missing is atmosphere. The set dressing is feels hollow, vintage cars line the streets and fab and funky furniture fill the homes but for some reason it just doesn’t feel like the 60s. Even in her retro dresses Mia looks out of place like she’s stepped off the set of Friends with her new ‘Rachel’ hair do.
The only performance of any note is the wonderful Alfre Woodard as Evelyn, their neighbour and local occult bookstore owner but she is palmed off with an underwritten and clichéd role. Annabelle herself looks like a mass produced prop that would be more at home in a franchised haunted house attraction than a child’s bedroom. With a fresh coat of paint she looks bland and awkward. I guess they were stuck with the design that looks better dirty and distressed than do a re-design and risk spoiling the brand. I really wanted to enjoy Annabelle but I was bored for most of the film, it felt more like a dull TV movie. I was hoping it would at least be good fun despite being a cynical cash-grab.
‘Annabelle’; like the doll herself sits in front of you and doesn’t do anything except extract your hard eared cash. Perhaps they could give the inevitable ‘Annabelle 2’ to a director with a passion for making the best haunted doll film ever and it might be worth a look.
OVERALL SUMMARY
A cynical grab for cash, Annabelle is a rushed Conjuring-lite lazy mess with little to quicken the pulse.
