By Geno McGahee
There has been a lot of found footage over the past several years, but THE CONJURING and its success has begun sending the genre into a new and better direction. It brought the 1970’s style of horror to the screen. It was a time when the focus was to terrify the audience. THE CONJURING was just what the horror fans needed and when it was a huge success, a follow up was in order and it came in the form of a haunted doll named “Annabelle.” ANNABELLE is another throwback sort of film, focusing on true scares rather than the cheap scares that we have seen of late. At times, ANNABELLE is very scary. You can own “Annabelle” on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, and Digital HD on January 20th.
Mia (Annabelle Wallis) has a great life. She has a great husband, John (Ward Horton), and is expecting a child. She also collects antique dolls, which brings us to another new addition to the family: Annabelle. After a long search, John has completed his wife’s collection of dolls with the addition of Annabelle, but that’s when things get really strange.
In the times of Charles Manson and other killer cults, Mia and her husband have to contend with a group with similar intentions. Two crazed killers enter their house and attack them. One of them stabs Mia in the stomach, but the police enter and kill him before he can finish her off. Meanwhile, the other cult members, kills herself while holding the Annabelle doll. When the incident is over and the doll returns to the shelf, it’s not the same.
Despite the attack, Mia is able to have the child, but her home becomes a terror zone. Her record player blasts music, doors close and her kitchen stove catches on fire. A little girl is seen walking around the apartment and it gets pretty creepy. In one of the coolest scenes, the little girl runs at the door and transforms into the crazy cult woman. It was an incredibly effective shot. It reminded me a great deal of the scene from SHOCK when the young boy ran and turned into his father.
ANNABELLE is a very solid horror movie and follows the path that THE CONJURING did. It is atmospheric and scary at times. This film reminded me a lot of ROSEMARY’S BABY, but it still stands alone and is another step in the right direction for the genre. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8/10
