Annabelle: Creation

“You’ve seen her destroy lives. Now, the fear-makers behind The Conjuring dare you to experience the terrifying story of how she was created. Several years after the tragic death of their young daughter, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and six girls from a shut-down orphanage into their home. What seems like the answer to their prayers becomes a curse, as their new guests become targets of the possessed creation, Annabelle.”

James Wan took ghost stories to an entirely new level with Insidious and The Conjuring, the latter of the two containing a B-Story so frightening that it eventually spawned stand-alone films. That was the most brilliant thing about bringing the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren to screen, there were many stories from their files. True or not, and taking a bit of creative license, being able to call these ‘based on true stories’ appealed to audiences who keep coming to theatres to see them.

Annabelle: Creation utilizes one of the best qualities of the previous films, making it a period piece taking place sometime in the 1950’s, which for some reason seems to make it that much more frightening. The film also carefully maintains the balance of showing too much of the monster, and showing too little, which is a thin line to walk across sometimes, but here I think it is done extremely well. When it does show the ‘too much’ portion, what you see is almost so terrifying that you can’t help but to be in awe of what’s being displayed on screen.

Although the film does start off a bit slow with an almost paint-by-numbers horror opening, I was surprised how quickly the film shifted gears and becoming so much more suspenseful. There are several frightening sequences with scenarios and locations that give the film a fairly unique feel to it. Also, with the majority of the film hinging on the talent of child and very young actors, you can’t get much better than this. The reactions, the acting, the changing, all are very well done.

I may be exaggerating when I say it is hard to remember a time when a franchise consisted of something other than a super-hero film or young adult novels, but I find it incredibly gratifying to see the success of The Conjuring universe take shape. Although there are countless horror franchises with serial killers and sadistic forms of torture, it’s hard to remember one as genuinely creepy involving ghosts and hauntings. Hopefully, the success of the latest installment will give continued support to the filmmakers and these stories, as there are already several more films already in the works taking place in the same universe.

Video

Annabelle: Creation is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.4:1. The transfer looks fantastic, with no defects noticed. Colors have a good balance, with a washed out, yellowish tint, giving the film a very vintage and dated feel to it, perfect for the location. Many of the scenes take place at night, utilizing some of the darker moments to enhance the suspense.

Audio

The audio is presented in Dolbly Atmos TrueHD. The track sounds great, with a good balance between dialogue and surrounds, which are utilized quite a bit to create that eerie atmosphere. Levels are good for the most part, my only issue is the major discrepancy with low to high portions. At times, you may have to turn the volume up to hear some of the dialogue, but when a scare comes, the volume has been set extremely high. Though this may work as intended to help frighten people, I don’t like holding my remote in my hand to ensure I don’t rattle the pictures off my walls.

Special Features

There are a few extras on the disc that are worth taking a look at, especially if you’re interested in The Conjuring universe. On this disc you’re going to see:

• The Conjuring Universe – Go deeper into The Conjuring Universe and get a sneak peek at the upcoming film The Nun.
• Horror Shorts: Attic Panic and Coffer – Two short films that inspired Annabelle: Creation.
• Deleted Scenes Featurette
• Directing Annabelle: Creation
• Director’s Commentary

Annabelle: Creation is a great addition to the expanding universe started by James Wan. It provides some great scares and solid entertainment as far as horror films go, and though it may start off at a slow pace, you are sure to be in a wild ride once the suspense takes hold.