Film Review: "Annabelle" (2014).

"Before The Conjuring, there was Annabelle." This is Annabelle. This supernatural horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, and written by Gary Dauberman. It is a prequel to 2013's The Conjuring and the second installment in the Conjuring Universe franchise. John and Mia are attacked by a couple, who are worshippers of Satan. However, before the cops kill them, the couple use a doll as a conduit to make John and Mia's life miserable.

In July 2013, prior to the release of The Conjuring, the idea of a spin-off on the Annabelle doll was announced. The idea was designed to be stand alone yet collectively catering to fans of The Conjuring who would already be familiar with the latter film. It ultimately went into development after the critical and commercial success of The Conjuring. The film would be one of the first in a new strategy by distributors Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema "that capitalizes on the built-in fan bases for successful films, allowing for smaller budgets and production time with a bigger payout on the back end." By late January 2014, Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Alfre Woodard, Tony Amendola, and Ivar Brogger were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and took place in Los Angeles, California. Leonetti and Producer Peter Safran claimed that supernatural phenomena had occurred on the set during filming. Unlike The Conjuring, which purports to be based on true events, this prequel is a completely fictional narrative of the previous owner of the doll before it was given to the two nurses shown at the beginning of The Conjuring. The only 'theory' as to the origins of Annabelle comes from a medium the nurses hired who claimed that Annabelle Higgins had been a child in the 1860s whose body was found in a field which the house now occupied. The Conjuring and the film portrayed the Annabelle doll as a porcelain doll, but the real Annabelle doll is a large Raggedy Ann doll. The Warrens had a special case built for Annabelle inside their Occult Museum, where she resides to this day.

The film stars Wallis, Horton, Woodard, Amendola, and Brogger. There were no memorable characters and indifferent acting. It's not bad enough to be funny or campy. Watching it is like staring at a dumb doll for an hour and forty minutes.

While the rote screenwriting doesn't kill the dark spirit of the world's creepiest porcelain doll, it doesn't channel it, either. Nothing says Halloween more than gathering in the dark to experience a carefully strategised branding opportunity. You know when a film is in trouble when a film has something wrong with it from the first ten minutes. A completely by-the-numbers spookfest that suffers from perhaps the worst possible fate for a film in this genre - it's rather boring. The film works on the level of something that delivers basic jolts on a regular basis, but it lacks the internal logic to develop momentum or suspense.

Simon says Annabelle receives: