Review of Annabelle: Creation (2017) by Filipeneto — 08 Aug 2020

After "Annabelle" turned out to be a terribly boring film, I thought it was very difficult to make it worse. So, I decided to see this film, which is basically a prequel or spin-off of that film... what this film does is to create a new story for the origin of the doll, which differs in everything from what we can see in "Annabelle": here , the doll was created by a couple who lost their daughter, something very distant from the satanic cults of the aforementioned film. The film also tells how the doll begins to put at risk a group of orphaned girls that this couple decided to welcome into their home.

Directed by David F. Sandberg, the film works well, although it is not brilliant. The dialogues are sometimes weak and uninteresting, but the actors' work is satisfactory. Anthony LaPaglia is a good actor and does his job very well. The same can be said of Samara Lee, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson and Talitha Bateman. Stephanie Sigman is the actress who did the worst, exaggerating her character and never looking like a real nun. The characters also do not excel in complexity but they fulfil the basic requirements, and the material given to the actors was minimally good.

Technically, its a beautiful film thanks to elegant cinematography, that knows how to use the shadows and make the best of a set that seems sinister enough, in a huge house virtually full of memories of the past. All the effects seemed to me to be well accomplished and realistic enough. The sets and costumes contribute a lot to create a threatening atmosphere and the soundtrack is impeccable.