Stars: Stephanie Sigman, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson
Storyline
Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle.
Cast: Stephanie Sigman -
Sister Charlotte
Miranda Otto -
Esther Mullins
Lulu Wilson -
Linda
Anthony LaPaglia -
Samuel Mullins
Talitha Bateman -
Janice
Alicia Vela-Bailey -
Evil Mrs Mullins
Kerry O'Malley -
Sharon Higgins
Philippa Coulthard -
Nancy
Joseph Bishara -
Annabelle Demon
Adam Bartley -
Officer Fuller
Samara Lee -
Bee Mullins
Brian Howe -
Pete Higgins
Grace Fulton -
Brad Greenquist -
Victor Palmeri
Lotta Losten -
Trivia:
Originally scheduled to be released on May 19, 2017, but was moved to August 11, 2017 to avoid competition with Alien: Covenant (2017). See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 8/10
A prequel of Annabelle, which was the prequel of The Conjuring.
Absolutely nobody asked for this. Nobody wanted this. No one. But,
thankfully (surprising, right?) we got it.
Annabelle: Creation has no business being this good. Funny enough, the
same can be said about 2016's Ouija: Origins of Evil. It is strange
that these two bizarrely similar films were released within a year of
each other. Both follow up on terrible first films. Both are prequels
of those terrible first films. Both shouldn't have been made. Both are
extremely effective horror films. Oh, and both star the excellent
child-actor Lulu Wilson. The similarities don't even end there.
After the film ended and I saw who directed this, everything made more
sense. David F. Sandberg has the reins here–who you might remember from
directing Lights Out, another surprisingly great 2016 horror flick. The
work done in that movie with the use of lighting and repetition is just
as suspenseful here (if not more so, in some scenes). Sandberg
thankfully stamps what could have been run-of-the- mill horror scenes
with his signature creativity. Horror largely relies on the talent of
the director, and this is a case of the direction only elevating the
film.
While Lulu Wilson is a definitely a standout in her second straight
horror movie role, her counterpart Talitha Bateman also gives a great
performance. As in most horror movies, most of the scares are seen
through the eyes of the children in the film. Luckily, the two youngest
actresses here–Wilson and Bateman–practically act circles around the
rest of the cast. In fact, there were quite a few moments when I felt
as though these two actresses deserved a better script. The pair
definitely do the best they can with what they are given however,
adding a great deal of character to this film.
The bar is low when it comes to horror film scripts. Even the best of
the genre still have the occasional cringe-worthy line or plot hole
(The Conjuring 2, I'm looking at you). All this to say, I'm going to go
easy on the faults of Annabelle: Creation's script. The writing here is
not bad by any means. There are cringy lines here and there, but that
is to be expected. The characters make extremely poor choices, but even
that is to be expected. The problem rests almost solely in the dull
first 30 minutes of this film.
Look, I'm all for slow burn horror movies. But when the star of your
horror film is an inanimate object, you just can't afford to have a
slow opening act. However, once this film starts picking up with the
scares in the latter half of the film, much of that first act can be
forgiven. The film goes in some unexpected directions towards the end
of the film which adds some surprising creativity.
No spoilers of course, but the way the first Annabelle is tied in to
this film is outstanding. So outstanding that it almost makes up for
the 90 minutes I wasted sitting through the garbage that was that first
film. Almost.
Credit to director David F. Sandberg for rescuing this franchise from a
tedious first film. Annabelle: Creation is legitimately scary, which is
all you can really ask for from a horror film.
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