Movie Review: Annabelle

I have to admit, Annabelle initially felt like an unnecessary prequel to last year's The Conjuring, but it pleasantly turned out to be a tightly executed horror thriller. Sure, the film was still horribly familiar and frustratingly unoriginal, which I bitched about last year, but there's something oddly compelling about this film. The mood and atmosphere were both disturbing and eerie, there were terrifying moments especially when the demon appeared on screen with unending ease - which stayed in my mind up until now - and the slow progression of the story to the horrifyingly subtle build up of tension was fantastic. Everything was present from the loud startling music to the scares that were well-planned it got to me on so many levels. Plus, the acting were believable especially Anabelle Wallis. Of course, the film was not without flaws, but I succumbed to the little hints of absurdity as they were needed to move the film along. Annabelle will never be remembered as a classic, but it definitely achieved it's unpretentious goal of being an entertaining, scary horror flick and a slightly better than your average standard haunted tale. 7