Annabelle

We’re witnessing the birth of a new sub-genre: soap-opera horror. Without the noisy sound effects in a high-quality theater, which would scare you even if you were watching Tom and Jerry, it’d be worthy of a single star. The movie has a criminally sloppy script and unprecedentedly failed direction, given that it’s a cinema release. There is a world of difference between the original and the spin-off. (22.10.2014)

He wanted to be like Wan, tries to be like Wan, but it’s not Wan, who is it? The director of Mortal Combat 2. In the standard of consumer commercial horror, it’s passable, but also, and without debate, forgettable and pointless overall. We’ve had enough with demons, we need another trend. (25.10.2014)

It’s obvious that John. R. Leonetti is no James Wan. He might be trying to create an atmosphere similar to for instance The Conjuring, but he’s no good at it and the whole thing is really boring. And when the movie is trying to look like it will man up and surprise you with a good scene, it’s usually killed by a pointless shot that looks like it was taken from a sub-par TV movie. The fact that the authors turned Annabelle into a doll that nobody would like to have at home simply because of the way she looks doesn’t really help the horror movie dimension of the film. It rather shows how desperate they were to come up with something that people would be terrified of. At least the true doll shows herself in the final shot. That was the only thing that was really terrifying about this. (20.12.2015)

Commercial routine that may not offend anyone, but usually doesn't impress anyone either. Honestly, "Annabelle" quite offended me because it is a horror rubbish that is too common nowadays. It only appears mainstream because the creators had enough money and they connected it with Wan's mainstream horror, which had atmosphere, good characters, and an interesting plot. None of that is okay here. (16.03.2015)