Annabelle:Creation

Who would have thought the follow-up instalment to a bad horror flick would eventually turn out to be… good? What a sweet surprise, and this could only mean one thing - studios are listening and they aren't deliberately producing horrible movies. At this rate, with directors and screenwriters who know what they are doing are given the opportunity to be the head of projects, we'd finally have a concrete threshold set for motion pictures quality after all, especially for this crowd-favourite genre!

David F. Sandberg, the man famous for making terrific short horror films on the internet, has taken the responsibility to helm yet another feature length movie after 2016's Lights Out. The guy's an expert, as one can see from his direction prowess! The colour, tone, lighting and camerawork were astounding! Annabelle: Creation possessed an atmospheric eeriness! And you could tell how the director has creatively utilized various locations in the same venue for maximum freshness! Space below the staircase, cabin opposite the house, basement attic, abandoned well, you name it! By showing how certain components in the home work, David was able to flip the cards on you at any time! Even the miniature sets were exceptionally built and one has to watch out for the seamless night to day transitions.

We walk into a mainstream horror picture with one purpose in mind - to be frightened! Thank God the director recognizes our wishes at heart, because Annabelle: Creation was a lot of fun in that sense! Walking doll covered in bedsheet, staircase chair malfunction, glowing eyes in photograph, puppets functioning on its own, dead Annabelle (Samara Lee) crawling up to Janice (Talitha Bateman), bounce ball gun being pulled away, tracking footsteps in the room, Janice dropping from top floor, half-mutilated body hanged on wall before crawling on the floor, scarecrow coming to life, Janice's head being ripped off to form the demon's, shadow following to the well, Mrs. Mullins creeping at the hallway, creaking body when faced with a cross, Annabelle's face transformed into the demon's, fingers breaking backwards and the doll staring away at Linda (Lulu Wilson) were fantastic scares to be honest!

You could see many of these scares were repeats from the filmmaker's short films. Also, most of it was predictable. But, here's the thing to keep in mind. We’ve been watching a copious amount of horror movies since birth. There’s only so much could be done differently in the 21st century. Another thing with the various forms the scares took was that, after a point in time, it became merely a series of random scary incidents / stuffs one after another, rather than being about one focused entity - the Annabelle doll. The movie lost unity in that sense. Even the demon had a larger portion to play compared to the titular antagonist. Furthermore, we're not sure why it's hard to make completely idiot-proof characters when it comes to most horror shows. Entering a room for the second and third time even after knowing there's satanic presence in it, leaving door room open while sleeping and staring into a well after hearing voices upon throwing a sinister doll into it were absolute stupidity.

As far as the writing went, the story was good. One could even say certain aspects of the plot were unique, such as the handcrafted dolls company with its constituents and everything. A short yet solid setup got the ball rolling. We saw how a shocking inciting accident destroyed a nice, warm family. What this also did was, it gave a clear motivation as to why the couple would invite orphan kids to their house for a stay. Just by visual information alone, we knew the doll has been locked in the room by Holy work and now it's out to play. Annabelle's quirks and fandom towards the hide-and-seek game was introduced earlier in the storyline, only to mess with our heads later on when the horror amusement began! On the orphanage kids' part, they all behaved and talked like how actual kids would behave and talk. You'd be surprised to see how many films don’t get this right at all. We witnessed Janice's deformity, vulnerability and how she slowly became isolated before falling prey to Annabelle!

Similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Conjuring Universe is a franchise that has cemented its place in the world of celluloids. With only good and beyond entries, this is definitely welcomed! It's cool to see Valak, The Demon Nun being referenced here! Ultimately, what tied the ending in a perfect little bow was how the makers have connected this chapter to the previous Annabelle film! Pure greatness!