The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

When it comes to horror spin-off-sequels, expectations tend to be on the low side. However, for Annabelle: Creation – the fourth installment to The Conjuring film series and the prequel to 2014’s somewhat disappointing Annabelle – the story is a little different. 

Having lost their young daughter, Bee (Lee) to a horrible road accident twelve years ago, grieving parents, Samuel (LaPagila) and Esther Mullins (Otto), decide to heal their broken heart by providing shelter to Sister Charlotte (Sigman) and six recently displaced orphan girls. Upon arriving to their new home, the girls – including the polio-stricken Janice (Bateman), and her best friend, Linda (Wilson) –  are eager to begin exploring their new abode with Janice soon being warned by Samuel – a retired doll maker – that no one is to enter a locked room located on the same floor as theirs.

However, Janice soon breaks that promise when, late one night, she receives a mysterious note which allows her to freely enter the forbidden room. Coming across a child’s doll in a white dress, Janice is quick to pick up on the doll’s strange behavior, not knowing of course, that she just managed to unleash an unfathomable evil throughout the house.

Unlike many horror sequels and spin-offs before it, Annabelle: Creation – a prequel to a prequel of sorts – doesn’t rely on the usual cheap scares. Instead, Sandberg – who also directed last year’s horror hit Lights Out – instills the movie with an eerie mood and haunting imagery which, as the movie goes into its second act, become prevailing forces throughout. Taking place in the 60s, he manages to give the film the same cinematic quality of the first Conjuring film as well portray the Annabelle doll as something truly unsettling and creepy.

While the ambiance of the piece is fitting, the script finds comfort in the one too many genre clichés. However, in taking its time to get rolling, Annabelle: Creation is a deliberate and meditated picture and doesn’t rush – a definite plus. But by the end, it feels like it overstays its welcome, particularly when it begins to struggle in filling the several gaps in logic.

Nonetheless, in being a notable improvement on its 2014 predecessor, Annabelle: Creation successfully manages to offer an eerie and a genuinely unsettling viewing experience. While the story isn’t exactly groundbreaking and tends to rely on some of the most well-known horror clichés to progress its story along, the overall result is a relatively satisfying watch for horror fans.