ANNABELLE

When The Conjuring came out in 2013, I was pleasantly surprised.  A demonic/creepy doll movie that didn't rely on jump scares but used them effectively when called upon.  But no matter how hard they tried to establish a story with the likes of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, the doll captured everyone's imagination.  So, after making its share of money, its no surprise (yet not a complaint from me) that they made a prequel of sorts to tell the back story of said doll.  With that, we have ANNABELLE.

Annabelle follows the story of Mia and John Gordon.  A happy couple who is soon expecting the birth of their first child.  However, things change drastically when John brings home a doll for Mia.  Seemingly everything Mia wanted (it even completed a collection she had been trying to do for a while), life was good.  Until the disturbances start.  After the brutal murder of their neighbours and a viscious attack on John and Mia (and their unborn child) that was eventually thwarted by the police, Mia could no longer feel safe.  But after finding out the attackers were involved in a Satanic cult, coupled with the fact that bizarre and apparently demonic events keep happening to Mia and her now born daughter Lea, time is running for the Gordon family to stop the madness before it destroys them, or worse yet, the soul of their child.

Unlike the competing Insidious series, the demon figure (as well as the doll) were done well, instead of coming across as silly like the aforementioned film.  I like the Ed and Lorraine Warren aspect of both The Conjuring and the mentioning in this one as it really makes the film plausible (I've always had a spot in the back of my mind for these sort of things).

Like before, I was beyond impressed with the jump scares in this flick.  I mean, they were genuinely frightening - something that I haven't said in a while.  However, similar to films like Paranormal Activity, you find the demonic disturbances more realistic than the attempted acting.  At times, the painful performaces take away from a truly scary scene.  Having reactions that go from unbelieveable to just plain absurd, it takes away from what could have easily been a horror series to remember.  Time will tell if this series will gain momentum (as there is another sequel in the works with Wilson and Farmiga), or if like Paranormal Activity, it will take a ninety degree nose dive with each following film.  So far not bad.  I'm still looking forward to it...