Disappointingly derivative dish of horror
Annabelle Rating: Starring: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis Directed by: John R. Leonetti Running time: 95 minutes
It’s an article of faith in movie houses, if not in the various houses of the lord, that demons are always clamouring for your soul. Hollywood has never adequately explained what exactly these fiends mean to do with it. Presumably, our human essence is packed with unholy phytochemicals that the demons need to survive, like some supernatural form of kale.
That tenet lies at the heart of Annabelle, a spinoff/prequel inspired by last year’s The Conjuring. The villain in the new movie — a creepy doll that played an incidental role in the plot of that earlier (and far superior) horror film — is a conduit for a spirit whose state of malevolence, and apparent malnourishment, compels it to try to scare up a little soul food.
The result is a disappointingly derivative dish.
Working from a silly script by Gary Dauberman, director John R. Leonetti borrows a little too liberally from the dogeared demon-doll cookbook, serving up a platter of half- baked clichés seen in everything from Magic to Child’s Play and beyond, all spiced up with lazy jump scares of the sort that have been used a hundred times before.
When it comes to visuals, the director has a modest flair. Leonetti is the longtime cinematographer for horror master James Wan, having worked with him on four of the director’s films, from Dead Silence to Insidious: Chapter 2. Here, Wan acts as producer, but his oversight isn’t enough to fix the problems with his sous-chef.
Set in 1970, the story centres on John and Mia (Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis), a married couple who, along with their new baby, are terrorized by an antique doll, the hideousness of which is apparent to all but the protagonists.
“Where did you find her?” squeals Mia with delight, after John presents his wife with something that resembles a ventriloquist’s dummy in drag that’s been left out in the rain too long. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking?”
Really? Looking for this freak show, with a face like a gargoyle? The thing would pull a shank on you from under its petticoat the minute you turn your back. And you’re going to put it in the baby’s room?
John and Mia soon start experiencing run-of-the-mill poltergeist phenomena: phantom popcorn bursting into flame on the stove, poor television reception, a sewing machine running in the middle of the night. Not exactly bloodcurdling stuff, even though Leonetti tries to make it so.
But the biggest hole is the one at the centre: What does the devil want with the baby’s soul?
Despite its deficiencies, Annabelle is not without a modicum of verve. It has its unnerving moments, but they’re outweighed by the sheer stupidity and predictability of the story. It’s not a movie for connoisseurs of horror, but for more susceptible sorts, those content with a fast-food approach to fearmongering.