ANNABELLE: CREATION – Review

One of Andrew Wyeth’s most famous paintings is “Christina’s World.” It depicts a woman immobilized, lying on a grassy hill, reaching out towards a farmhouse that sits isolated in the distance. There was a young girl in Wyeth’s town who suffered from Polio, which forced her to crawl about. Emotions of loneliness, desperation, and fear are expressed even though the subject’s face is turned away from the viewer. This famous painting that has now traveled the world in exhibitions and as a postage stamp served as inspiration for Tobe Hooper’s 1974 cinematic masterpiece, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.

Director David F. Sandberg (last year’s LIGHTS OUT) seems to have also been influenced by this striking and haunting painting. ANNABELLE: CREATION feels like a southern-gothic folktale, not unlike PUMPKINHEAD. And like the aforementioned painting, the main lead girl also suffers from Polio, causing her to walk slowly in a leg brace. She’s one of several young women that a doll maker and his wife take in after the closing of an orphanage. Played with quiet strength by Talitha Bateman, Janice falls prey to a dark presence which leads her to discover an old doll hidden away in a locked bedroom upstairs.

While screenwriter Gary Dauberman, unfortunately, leaves the majority of the cast to simply blow away into the dusty distance, Sandberg focuses his attention on delivering what younger audiences have mainly come to experience: scares. In that regard, ANNABELLE: CREATION is extremely effective. Unlike its predecessor, it proudly stands next to THE CONJURING films as delivering real scares. What helps with this is making the audience afraid of not just the doll, but of what other being is haunting the house as well as the always hidden mother. It’s a terrifying trifecta that fits perfectly into the ominous surroundings.

Previously executed in James Wan’s INSIDIOUS and CONJURING films, Sandberg relies heavily on presenting children’s games and toys in a dark light. Everything from a dollhouse to a toy pop-gun is used in ways to subvert their innocence. Even his twisted take on a seemingly innocent song played on a record player is somewhat reminiscent of a similar take on a classic song in INSIDIOUS. That being said, I don’t fault Sandberg for learning from what has previously worked well. He shows a knack for creating tension, and like those previous films, the scares are structured as patiently staged set pieces as opposed to quick jump scares.

Art always spawns other art. As Harry S. Truman once stated, “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.” Sandberg proves that he’s certainly not ignorant to the world of horror cinema, while also showing how to properly take inspiration from some of the masters of the genre.

Overall score: 3.5 out of 5

ANNABELLE: CREATION opens everywhere August 11th