I wasn’t a fan of the original “Annabelle” from 2014, which was a spin-off of “The Conjuring.” I felt it had potential, but somehow, it never really seemed to deliver (review can be found in my Crappy Past page). I gave that film 2 and a half smiley faces.

3 years later, we now have “Annabelle: Creation,” the prequel which has a few scares, but ends up becoming tired. I found a way to slip through the heart attack cracks: cover my ears, even when a scene doesn’t do much. Ergo, I wanted the final act to stop.

The movie starts off kind of predictable, as a doll maker (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife (Miranda Otto) love their little girl more than anything. That is until she gets hit by a truck.

12 years later in the 1960s, the couple runs a home for girls, with the father warning the girls not to go in a locked room, and the mother in bed with a mask covering half her face.

Among the girls is Janice (Talitha Bateman), who suffers from polio, and disobeys the doll maker’s orders and walks in the room, where she finds the demon doll Annabelle, and eventually becomes possessed by it.

Again, I gave a mixed review of the first film, and I’m giving a mixed review for this prequel. It has scares, nice sets, and some good performances from Bateman, Otto, and LaPaglia; but there’s not really much to care about. You can barely read the other girls, other than their silly dialogue, and certain scenes are generic. I’d rather watch “Annabelle: Creation” instead of “The Dark Tower,” but it still could have been better.

⭐️⭐️1/2

Categories: Horror, Prequel, Spin Off, Thriller