Annabelle

I was looking forward to wronging the film, to lynching it!! Well, surprisingly, that's not going to happen, because Annabelle is the scariest film of 2014. It takes Oculus, Deliver Us from Evil and The Babadook for breakfast, not to mention parodies like Jessabelle and Ouija. Right from the start the film sets a fast pace, a solid soundtrack, a nice retro look and plenty of scares, yes I got scared twice and had a decent twitch three times. The elevator scene was absolutely breathtaking!! Chills and goosebumps are inevitable. Annabelle is a solid old school horror film and a tribute to all things 80s and 90s, even though it goes on and on, this form suited me. Considering the aversion I have for ghost stories, this one was a pleasant surprise and I'm not afraid to praise it. 70% (11/01/2015)

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)

A commercial routine that might not offend anyone but generally won't excite anyone either. Honestly, Annabelle offended me a bit because it's horror trash that's all too prevalent these days. It only appears mainstream because the creators had enough money and tied it to Wan's mainstream horror, which had atmosphere, compelling characters, and an interesting plot. Here, none of those aspects are good. (16/03/2015)

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)

And I tend to the opinion that this is probably the worst horror film of the year, and I'm not saying that I've seen other similar horrors. But just because of how unbelievably overrated Annabelle was and how incredibly big of a hype the protagonists made out of it, my only option after the screening is deep regret for this entire film because such a confused horror, making a name for itself on James Wan, is truly unparalleled. Even though the atmosphere in the cinema was absolutely dreadful this time, it wasn't as dreadful as the local story about the cursed or possessed (it doesn't really matter) doll. The only thing I admire about all this buffoonery is probably the editor who made the trailer. Because, if you want to have a good experience with Annabelle, just watch that. The rest of the movie is just a complete awkward bore. The whole attraction was depicted in the trailer, which got me somewhat excited. When I stick to the boredom, that wasn't the biggest mess here. The biggest mess was taken care of by a completely moronic, incoherent, and utterly confusing story that included all the fairytale creatures you can think of. Poor Annabelle didn't even get any space in the movie. She alone isn't what ruins the film. She just sits there for 95 minutes and stares. The only one who is to blame for this terrible and horrifying hell is Mr. Gary Dauberman, who should stick to his gloomy films and write paperwork for authorities, not movies. And of course, John R. Leonetti, who should rather keep improving his camera skills and not spoil the tastes of fans of Wan's works. (25/10/2014)