Late one night shortly after the dolls arrival, members of a satanic cult murder John and Mia's elderly neighbours then break into their home where one of them scrawls a bloody sigil on the wall of the nursery. The blood from the intruders then seeps into the eye cavity of the hideous doll and at this point in the film your mind begins to swirl with all sorts of wonderful haunting imagery that could take place for the remainder of the film... Oohhh if only!

Mia is quite traumatized and the couple move to an apartment building in Pasadena but not before they discard the creepy doll in the trash bin. Throughout the second half of the film Mia is home alone with a new baby and the hideous grimy doll who mysteriously reappears at their new residence, yet Mia decides to keep her. All manner of terrifying supernatural events begin and they take a heavy toll on Mia.

Alfre Woodard plays the role of a friendly neighbor who believes what is happening to Mia and is a joy to watch as always, having said that it's hard to love a film when you have no emotional investment in the characters. No possession film is complete without a priest and as we all know too well the priest meets an untimely death - no surprises there. This film goes for cheap old school scares but all it achieves is roaring laughter from the audience. Unfortunately throughout the entire film I kept thinking this reminds me of Ti West's House of the Devil - another film that failed on all levels and that is not a film anyone should aspire to. Director John Leonetti (Cinematographer for the Conjuring) failed to achieve the menacing atmosphere needed for this film.

Overall Annabelle was deeply disappointing but for those who can convince themselves to sit through the entire film... The best part begins when Mia enters the basement...

by Dee Munday Australian release 3 October 2014 2014 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: The Conjuring movie review

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Just the facts: Title: Annabelle (2014) Written by: Gary Dauberman Directed by: John R. Leonetti Running time: 99 mins Rating: MA15+ The Players: Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Alfre Woodard Official website: annabellemovie.com IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.

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