Annabelle: Creation (Rated T)
Cast:Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto
Genre: Horror
Dwight's rating: Not bad
Clearly, an efficiency apartment is the safest way to go!
That seems to be one of the best places to avoid demons and ghosts and other evil spirits. When was the last time you saw someone under attack by a supernatural force in such an open area? With a full and largely unobstructed view of the room, there's no place for anything to lurk. Right?
More than 100 years of horror films has taught us that you don't want to be in a big old house, especially not a farmhouse - not when there is evil around. Nor does it matter what you call that house. Whether it's an old cottage, mansion, villa or castle, it's a no-no! And you definitely don't want to be in any place that has secret rooms or entrances or passages.
It would also be wise to avoid any home out in the country, or in a small town, or in a big city; or in Continental Europe, England or New England!
Time periods are important, too, and there are some to avoid. No decade has been scarier than the 1970s. As a child in the '80s, any movie (even comedies) set in the '70s would give me the creeps. The 1960s were also scary, as were the '40s, '50s, '30s and '40s, and pretty much all of the 1800s, 1600s and 1700s.
That leaves a pretty tiny window of what and where is safe in the horror movie world, but there is one constant and one certainty. Even in an efficiency apartment in 2017, should a random doll appear one day, be afraid! Be very afraid!
Even more than clowns, dolls are just the creepiest things! Especially the porcelain variety and the ones you can't tell whether they're supposed to be babies or small adults. Why is that "infant" wearing makeup and a ball-gown and sucking her thumb? That's a problem!
The movie industry has a long tradition of freaky dolls. From Chucky in "Child's Play", to that creepy tricycle-riding thing in "Saw", to that awful clown doll (both a clown and a doll -- the true stuff of nightmares) in "Poltergeist", this theme just won't go away.
The newest member of this club, the demented-looking Annabelle, appears to be on track to becoming the Wolverine or Iron Man of the horror world. She is everywhere and in everything. With the exception of 2015, Annabelle has appeared in a film every year since the premiere of "The Conjuring" in 2013, including last year's "The Conjuring 2", and the entire franchise's prequel, "Annabelle", in 2014.
With the new "Annabelle: Creation", we get a prequel to that prequel, taking us back to the very creation of this odd doll. (Yet another movie in the series, "The Nun", is in the works.)
"Annabelle: Creation" has all the things we've long avoided in horror films: the big old farmhouse, the scary 1940-1950 time period, and of course, that creepy, demented-looking doll.
Years after a horrible tragedy befell their family, former toy maker Sam Mullins and his wife, Esther, are happy to welcome a nun and six orphaned girls into their California farmhouse. Terror soon strikes when one child sneaks into a forbidden room and finds a seemingly innocent doll that appears to have a life of its own.
Things start off really slowly, and there's a long, drawn-out set up, with lots of shadows, strange sounds and an abundance of startled characters. You wish the action would pick up, and it does eventually, paying off relatively nicely, with pretty much all the characters making the typical bad choices.
As is de rigueur with today's horror flicks, images pop out at the screen from nowhere, things appear in a flash in the shadows, and just as quickly, they're gone. Often it's more amusing than frightening, but it's quite fun. It's also largely predictable. And overall, Annabelle and these evil spirits essentially bullying orphaned children, and putting children with disabilities in jeopardy, feels like the equivalent of a low blow.
But the ending provides a smooth flow into what is the next movie in the chronology of this series, "Annabelle". And you should stay through the credits for more connections to the other movies in the franchise.
"Annabelle: Creation" is good for a couple jumps out of your seat, and one or two shrieks. It's not exactly scary, but on a hot summer's afternoon, it's an entertaining way to pass some time in a cool theater -- another usually safe place where all the unspeakably bad things (the spawn of Satan, demonic works and the "what in God's name possessed this writer/director?" stuff) are confined to just that big screen on the wall.
o Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of "Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.
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