Annabelle review – laziest devil-doll in movie history

Mike McCahill

Thursday, 09 Oct 2014

The doll from The Conjuring gets her own prequel, but it’s too derivative – and the lead takes an hour to stand up

Creepy-faced mannequin Annabelle, the satanic conduit of choice for 2012’s rattly old horror junkshop The Conjuring, here lands her own none-too-original origin story, which cribs from Rosemary’s Baby in tormenting 1970s newlyweds with the spirits of Charlie Manson copyists. (Everything’s secondhand.) Director John Leonetti, cinematographer first time round, knows which buttons to push – shots of fingers nearing sewing machine needles to get everybody edgy, sudden shrieks and thunderclaps for popcorn-scattering – but he’s working with an underwhelming star turn. Annabelle, who takes an hour to stand upright, will go down as the laziest devil-doll in movie history; compared to her, Chucky’s a Harvard MBA prospect.

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Mike McCahill

Thursday, 09 Oct 2014

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