Director: David Sandberg
Running Time: 1h 49m
Cast: Miranda Otto, Talitha Bateman, Stephanie Sigman
Movie Score: 70%
*[0-50%-red (poor); 50-70%-yellow (average to good, better and promising); 70-90%-green (very good to great); 90-100%-blue (outstanding to perfect and a masterpiece)]
The Conjuring was a brilliant entry by James Wan, into a universe that it was made to initiate for. It also introduced us all to a haunted evil doll, Annabelle. Then, deliberately (may be) for cashing in on the horrific doll, came Annabelle (2014). It could have been a great origin/prequel movie but ended up being an ignored one, critically-however did a good job at the box-office.
This is the third origin story movie, for the classic old scary doll-commendable! Now, what’s that which separates it from its predecessor (or the prequel spin-off or whatever you want to call that)? Perhaps it’s the treating of the plot and some extra-ordinary ‘scary scenes’ that will surely pull out goose bumps out of your skin. But there is always the other side too. The Creation also has.
Firstly, let’s talk about what is good. The presentation. David Sandberg has come up with a second feature film of his own, after last year’s Lights Out, and not to say, it was damn good, and thrillingly scary. Here, he is again at his usual work of delivering staggering camera work and use of lights with the dark. The background score will make you shivered.
The two leads Talitha Bateman (playing Janice), and Lulu Wilson (playing Linda) as the orphan girls have done justice to their roles and it really feels like their story is being told, the moment they enter the house of a man Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) who had lost her daughter Annabelle in an accident. Then to ease on his pain somehow, he invites the two orphans to his house. After that, unexpected things begin to happen, especially for Janice-the one affected with polio. So, it’s obvious that she is more vulnerable to get haunted.
But, just when you start getting connected with the characters-the two orphan girls, who are best friends-there is a fall, and that hurts a bit. More importantly, towards the climax, the strongest thing this movie had, to end on a high note-but it doesn’t happen for the Creation. Though, it is far better and I must admit, it’s an improvised Annabelle origin story for the first time, since its inception in The Conjuring (2013).
Only that David Sandberg should have given it a more impactful ending and then, it would have just been the best horror flick amongst all the recent entries in the past two years, namely, Lights Out, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Conjuring 2, Don’t Breathe, A Dark Song and The Autopsy of Jane Doe).
Before the release, the film had a whopping, close to 90% fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, that has now fallen down to 68%-and that tells the whole story. Hope it doesn’t fall too much.
Annabelle: Creation has released and is running in the theatres now.
