Annabelle: Creation (2017) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline: You don't know the real story

You've seen her destroy lives. Now, the fear-makers behind The Conjuring dare you to experience the terrifying story of how she was created. Several years after the tragic death of their young daughter, a doll maker and his wife welcome a nun and six girls from a shut-down orghanage into their home. What seems like the answer to their prayers becomes a curse as their guests become the targets of the possessed creation: Annabelle.

Storyline: 12 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, where they soon become the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Brandon Peters, October 25th, 2017 -- When The Conjuring scored big back in 2013, one of the big takeaways from that film was the creepy doll in the opening scene named "Annabelle". Said doll was the subject of its own spin off film that also was a huge hit despite very poor reviews. The Conjuring got its own sequel later on and naturally Annabelle has now received her own follow up. Once again, she scored a success, topping over one hundred million dollars in the US and over three hundred million bucks worldwide, easily pulling past the original's take. Those totals are right in line with the regular Conjuring movies too. This world of horror cultivating from the case files of Warren's research is very much alive and well. Another spin-off series is in the works and on the way with The Nun next year. But first, let's take a look on Annabelle: Creation, which was the summer's top horror film.

Former toy maker Sam Mullins and his wife, Esther, are happy to welcome a nun and six orphaned girls into their California farmhouse. Years earlier, the couple's 7-year-old daughter Annabelle died in a tragic car accident. 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.

Sometimes maybe it's all in the hands of who is crafting a film. While I did not care for the first film in the Annabelle series, I wasn't really against its story or ideas on display in it. That film just felt like your generic, studio commercial horror film (Sorry for the generality, I'm not against big studio films in the slightest, but follow me) where it's the kind of "Horror film for people who don't watch horror films" type of deal. It did carry the R rating, but had lots of dumb boo scares and not a lot that warranted (In my eyes) that full on rating, just like the first Conjuring movie.

Moving on now to Annabelle: Creation, we go the prequel route and get much better hands in directing the film, which doesn't have an "incredible" story to it, but its tied together in how well the thing is show and staged. Many of the film's sequence are pay offs to some really fine set ups that took their time to give us geography, back story and little visual key details throughout. The film also has a lovely, haunting darkness to how it looks that is pretty creepy on its own. It helps when your director is the guy who made Lights Out, an awesome horror movie and one of last year's biggest highs in the genre.
Annabelle: Creation has a neat little back drop of a story with orphaned girls in a house with a spooky, tragic past and the Annabelle doll in the mix. I honestly was reminded of Curse of Chucky for some reason throughout this (That's a GOOD thing). While the film is a part of The Conjuring universe, it is only concerned with being an Annabelle movie and doing its best to tell this one complete story (And neatly working its way to the first film). Cleverly, there is a tiny nod and set up for the upcoming Nun movie, but it's really quick and only distracting enough to give you a grin if you know what it is. It's what successful cinematic universe building should be.

Similarly to the Ouija movies, Annabelle's second outing goes backward, telling an origin story and has much more success, improving the series. Easily this movie tops the original and easily is it one another good horror film this year. Prior to this, I could have cared less if they made any more Annabelle films. Now, I won't mind seeing another one if they do make it (I'm sure they will).
Annabelle: Creation is another terrific horror movie in a year full of terrific horror movies. It tops the first one easily and is a really fine treat as a standalone film. Coming to Blu-ray, it features a terrific video and audio presentation that should really get the horror elements visually and audibly pulsating nicely in your home theater. Along for the ride are some decent extras too. It's an easy pick up, but it's also one you know is going to be on sale in the near future (Black Friday, maybe?). I think it's worth full price, but maybe you want it to come down just a hair. Recommended.

[CSW] -3.4- I was not expecting much from this movie but was very surprised, it was legitimately scary. A prequel of a prequel shouldn't be this good. It used scare tactics instead of jump scares every two seconds and with that creepy doll at the center of it all. They bring the plot full circle at the end tying the other movies together. If you're looking to be scared and enjoyed the other movies you'll enjoy this one also. If you don't connect with this movie you may find it boring, I didn't.
[V4.5-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box added to the tension and did not make the few jump scares worse.


º º