Annabelle (2014)

Genre

Horror

Director

John R. Leonetti

Country

USA

Cast

Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Tony Amendola, Alfre Woodard, Kerry O'Malley, Brian Howe, Eric Ladin, Ivar Brogger, Gabriel Bateman, Geoff Wehner, Shiloh Nelson, Keira Daniels, Robin Pearson Rose, Camden Singer, Morganna Bridgers, Amy Tipton

Storyline

The lives of Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and John Gordon (Ward Horton) are turned upside down when they bring home a vintage doll.

Opinion

When I was younger, I used to be a huge horror movies fan; Annabelle is one of the reasons I am not anymore. I'm pretty sure this is one of the worst horror movies I've ever seen. Even worse than the Friday the 13th franchise. This film is Terrence Malick boring and the only reason I managed to watch the whole thing without falling asleep is that I didn't watch it at night.

The storyline was okay and could have been turned into something interesting. However, some brainless person "wrote" and "developed" it and it ended up being a huge pile of shit. So the overall story is incredibly weak, there is no such thing as development, and nothing about it makes sense. I'm still trying to figure out why would Mia want that creepy doll in her house. It's not a pretty doll, it's a beyond creepy doll. I wouldn't even walk in a room if that doll was in it. And I'm not scared of dolls. And don't believe in supernatural stuff.

To that, add a bunch of uninteresting, bland, clichéed, stereotyped characters that have no development whatsoever. No wonder the actors were terrible too. 

But it's not fair to blame only the writer - although most of the fault is his. The direction is terrible as well. I don't know what John R. Leonetti was doing while shooting this, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't doing what a director is supposed to do, direct.

Annabelle doesn't have a single scary sequence/moment, it doesn't have a climax, it doesn't have the right atmosphere and therefore completely fails on the task of building suspense. How do the filmmakers even dare to pass this as a horror movie? Ah, the mysteries of life.