Annabelle

Unable to frighten or snap out of its trite references to classics, this horror flick disappoints

The doll Annabelle is not a debutante. She made her first Hollywood appearance in The Conjuring (2013), when paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren exorcised ‘the devil’ from her and placed her as exhibit ‘A’ in their museum. Now, apparently, she has put on some fresh mascara and eye shadow and is out on another date with Satan.

This time she’s joined the exotic doll collection of Mia Gordon (Annabelle Wallis), a mother and housewife, circa 1969. This was the era of the automation of American suburbia and thus all kinds of things start happening to the gadgets. The record player suddenly starts up on its own accord, as does the electric sewing machine. There is static on the radio and the phones and the popcorn maker explode. Mia and her husband, John (Ward Horton), are forced to move out and into an apartment building for their own safety.

Annabelle the doll, identified as the culprit, is thrown out into the trash can, but mysteriously turns up again for a fresh bout of haunting. Unfortunately, the poltergeist activity in this movie is not up to the mark. The images are culled from many previous classics— particularly The Omen, in scenes involving the church, a priest as a central character and a symbol of the devil that keeps appearing.

But where the film really falls short is in maintaining a balance between the aberrant occurrences and ‘normality’. This is the key to a good horror film, and because the characters in Annabelle are put on tenterhooks from the word go, you are always waiting and ready for a shock, but not once are you caught unawares. Annabelle, herself, though, does have her moment in the sun. In a scene where Father Perez (Tony Amendola) volunteers to put her away in his church, where he presumes her evil will be neutralised, she protests most emphatically to keep her final date with Satan. The film is well shot, but disappointing in its genre.

Annabelle WallisJohn R LeonettiWard Horton