Annabelle Creation - a Must SEE for Horror Fans

Annabelle Creation (2017) Starring: Anthony LaPaglia/Mullins Dollmaker, Samara Lee/Bee, Lulu Wilson/Linda, Talitha Bateman/Janice, Stephanie Sigman/Sister Charlotte. I saw this in the theater, and remember that it has some good scares and a decent origin story. I liked when the ‘doll’ was in the closet and comes out but under the sheet. When I was a kid, I had child-sized dolls in our house. My sister and I both got one. They were about 3 ft tall. I used to keep mine in the closet --- and I worried about what might be going on in that closet. I have a wild imagination, I admit. This movie actually played on that fear, which made me have a visceral reaction. Needless to say, I don’t like dolls too much. This film starts out with the painter/artist/ dollmaker. It focuses on his story and his family’s story. It’s set in around the 1930s or 1940s. I liked this story and bought into it pretty quickly. He makes dolls that have a similar likeness to his daughter, who is named “Bee”. The little girl likes to play a game with her dad by writing little notes on paper like “Find Me” to start a hide and go seek game. This pulls from the real folklore story that the doll supposedly left notes in the nurses’ apartment like “Help Me”, etc. In this version, the little girl is killed in a freakish car accident. This part really broke my heart, because the child actress playing Bee,-which is short for Annabelle- was just the cutest little thing. It is abrupt and unexpected, but in a way that keeps the plot moving forward. Supposedly from that, the doll becomes haunted by the child. The idea is posed: is it the child or something else? There is some folklore that dolls were originally created to be like effigies to represent humans, and specifically represent the dead. It is said that people make doll-like figures to represent someone they have lost so that the person who passed on can inhabit the doll, and return to their family members. Like, bringing the dead back to life. Folklore said dolls have been used in rituals like this. In some cases, dolls are used to curse others, who have the doll’s likeness. I don’t really know cause I haven’t done a ton of research, but it makes for a really good back story. Then, in the 50s, the home of the dollmaker’s family was turned into a home for girls. One of the girls is Linda, an orphan. There is also Janice, who also is an orphan, with the added challenge of a brace on her leg from Polio. The dollmaker and his wife still live there, like caretakers. Ah, okay. I’ll go with it. There is also the priest and the nun in charge of the orphanage. Interesting premise. I would have had the family move away and made it into a home for the girls, but it’s a choice. Anthony LaPaglia does a good job as the heartbroken dad/dollmaker. The house is interesting, like a cross between a farmhouse and a gothic church. The front door pattern has crosses in it, but at the top the crosses reverse. The dollmaker installed a chair that goes up and down the stairs against the wall, he said it was for his wife but the wife doesn’t use it. Instead, he lets Janice use it. This comes back around later, as a major plot point. The first time Janice uses it, we can see in a dark hall behind her, the outline of the Annabelle doll. It is very faint, but done in a way that if you are paying attention you notice it. Only like 15 minutes into the film, and I was hooked. It felt like it wasn’t even related to the earlier film “Annabelle”. It felt like this should have been the film that was called “Annabelle” and they should have scrapped the Rosemary Baby wannabe film. However, I did understand the tie in between the two at the end. Janice, already at a disadvantage, gets attacked by the spirit in Annabelle, several times. To top that, the older girls bully her. The demon in Annabelle targets Janice because she is supposedly frail. I had sympathy for little Janice. She was tough as nails, and puts up a good fight,--until the end... When that thing was creeping up behind her I was like ‘oh nope’. Things start rather early in the film, and usually I don’t like when films give too much away up front. This time, however, they are so subtle, and sometimes only the audience sees it while the characters do not. It made the suspense build nicely. Then, we got to the whole chair-escalator thing, and then the wheelchair incident --- after that I was like omg! The home itself, with its gothic style, lends itself to have a dark take on a church - with a personality of its own. I also had a lot of sympathy for the nun in this film. She has a very good heart. When the dumb-waiter thing starts acting up on her, again I was like “oh nope.” I have seen those things up close, and they are cool with the tiny door, but they also look like a troll might pop out at you. Something similar happens, but I won’t say what. Don’t let kids play around those things. Things start to build when Janice keeps finding notes being slid under her door, and sometimes being slid right out in front of her. Again, I was like “ok, nope”. Just a note to anyone who moves into a creepy house --- when the landlord says stay out of a room-- stay out of the room. Leave things well enough alone. When that friggin doll stood up under that sheet, then that reveal--- I might have cried a little bit. Linda is Janice’s best friend, and wants to be Janice’s sister. She figures stuff out, and makes an attempt to get rid of the doll. Still, sometimes, things just want to be found, again and again. Those two girls, though, for kids who know what is happening, they tend to go back into that room… a lot… and it has terrible consequences. I liked the fact that they tie in Janice to the next part of the story, which in reality is the first film. Also, I thought that the nod to the real doll was funny. You can see a lookalike of the real doll in one scene. I found out that it was written by the same guy, but it felt like two completely different writers. I saw the tie in with “The Nun”. I’m not sure how I feel about that, building the franchise, but some people might like finding those easter eggs. However, “Annabelle Creation”, it was a film that felt like it could stand on its own two feet. Much like the doll. (shudder) It definitely is a better film than the first one. PS: If anyone wants to search the real origin of this story, you should check out the information on The Warrens. They were the paranormal experts who handled this case. They were based out of Connecticut. Supposedly they picked up a haunted doll, given to them by a client, and it’s name was Annabelle. It was reported to have had an adverse effect on Lorraine as it sat in their car’s back seat. Later, the doll has also been reported to move from place to place on its own. It is currently locked up in a glass and wood case and under constant supervision. The case itself is blessed and painted with holy water on the inside. I have seen it, and the doll is tied down in the chair on which it sits. When I saw it, there were several prayers and sacred items on the case to keep whatever is haunting the doll…. Inside. If you like horror origin stories, check that one out for yourself! You will not be disappointed.

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Carnival of Souls (A Horror Classic!) Starring: Candice Hilligoss/Mary Henry. “Why can’t anybody hear me??!” In this movie, filmed in black and white, there is an odd ‘atmospheric’ tale of a woman who is suffering from either visions or delusions after a terrible car accident. It tells the story of Mary Henry, a beautiful woman who is quiet and seems a bit catatonic. Mary is in a small town, and the film opens with her going for a ride with some of her girlfriends. The film really doesn’t explain much off the bat, just that three girls are driving, and at a stop a guy challenges them to a drag race. Mary isn’t too happy with this, the expression on her face says it all, but she goes along with it. Mary’s friend says something like ‘we’ll show him how to drive’ and drives the car right off a bridge into the river. Yeah, you sure showed him. Then there’s a quick cut to everybody looking over the edge of the bridge, and a search boat on the river. While that is going on, an officer questions the guy who started the whole thing, obviously aware that there is something suspicious. The guy is like ‘no, they were just trying to get around us on the bridge’... sure buddy. Anyway, police are looking for the car and can't find it. While that is happening, Mary is seen walking out of the river up the muddy bank. It is nearly impossible, but she’s there. They take her up the bank and then there is another quick cut to her returning to the bridge, clean, dressed nicely, looking over the water. The search is still going on. Shortly after that, Mary is leaving one job as an organist in this little town for a job as an organist in a church in Utah. Her boss wishes her an unusual farewell, saying though she plays really well she needs to play like she has a soul. Ah - okay. odd. Mary barely responds, but says some very progressive things, such as it is just a job for her and she does not need to be religious to accept a job at a church. Mary is an unusual woman, keeps to herself, and is not a big fan of company. She does not seem to have any husband or boyfriend. People ask her that a lot, and she responds with sentiments that she doesn’t feel all that interested in relationships with anyone. Been there, girl, been there. On her way into town, she is driving late at night and sees a large building in the distance. She glances at it, and seems drawn to it. Then, she sees a man’s face in the reflection of the passenger’s side window. She’s scared but still keeps driving. It disappears and her own face is in the reflection. She makes it into town, and asks the gas station attendant about the building. He fills her in on the details while filling up her gas tank. (Get your mind out of the gutter, he just puts gas in the tank). He says the building is actually a series of buildings, that it used to be a bathhouse at the salt lakes of Utah, but then it was a boardwalk, then a dance hall, and a carnival. He explains it’s closed. She asks how she can get to town, to the boarding house she has booked and he points in an upward direction. This is when camera angles and black and white film make this film strange and atmospheric, because the camera shows the sky and then the film cuts to a dark hall and doorway that opens up to her room at the boarding house. It was the quickest change of scene, that I didn’t really know what was happening until after it happened. If I blinked I would have missed a very different style of scene change. The rest of the film has moments like that, with low to the ground angles, quick cuts to something completely different, then cuts back to what the scene was like before. It makes for a very interesting film. Anyway, she keeps seeing this man’s face -- in the mirror --- in her boarding room window, etc. She is scared, but most of her reactions are very subdued. She even sees the man in the hall, and is startled but does not scream. Then, there is the nice but a bit too friendly landlady ‘Take as many baths as you want, I never mind about that’. What does THAT mean? Also, there is the guy boarding across the hall who keeps asking Mary out. Mary really is just giving a friendly vibe. He tries everything to get her into bed, but then when she questions his motives he’s all like ‘Aw, see, you got the wrong impression of me’. No, my friend, I think Mary has the right impression and has nicely declined multiple times. However, when he comes back after the third or fourth time, she accepts a date. I got the impression she accepted the date to just feel something, to not feel alone. She meets a random therapist on the street who happens to offer advice to her that particular day, and implies that Mary should have some relationships. Yes, that’s right, she is walking down the street and is starting to lose it, and she just happens to bump into a therapist who takes her on as a client the same day. I mean, nothing in this film is set up in a realistic manner, but the whole film is like that, so I just assumed it’s set in a kind of place that has a pinch of realism blended with horror. Anyway, the therapist prompts her to get to the meat of her issues. After a little prying, she admits that she would like to be involved with people, but is struggling with that. She says something like ‘I want to, I feel like I am reaching out for that kind of thing…’, but her words trail off. This was a very intriguing exchange. She seems puzzled by it herself. She also has these strange visions. For example a shop clerk is helping her with a dress one minute, but soon after it is like the clerk or anyone else in the shop can’t see her. There is a very simple wavy effect to the film when the transition happens, and it signals that something is about to happen. Low budget technique, but done in a way that was very effective. In her second therapy session, she decides she will go out to the Carnival by herself and figure out what is going on. The therapist advises against it. She says it feels like at the carnival things will be resolved, and if she has to do it alone, she will. At the carnival, she goes to this area with these large canisters that are hanging from the ceiling. As Mary is walking away from them, they move and make a lot of noise. You can tell that someone on set of this film just moved them on cue, but it is done in a way that makes a jarring noise. I was like ‘hey what the heck just happened’. Again, a very simple technique that worked really well. This occurs again when Mary stares at an indoor slide. There is a very long pause, and then one of the mats slides down it on it’s own. Very simple, yes. Obviously staged, yes. Still, very creepy and it works. After some poking about in the dance hall, Mary finds a stone and throws it into the watery salt flats. There were earlier moments in the film that indicated that the dead man that has been following Mary is in the salty water. Well, the guy rises up, taking a few other dead people along with him. Then there is another quick cut to all of the dead people on the dance floor. The film speeds up sometimes in the scene, making it very crazy looking. It’s so simple, and yet it works. Then Mary sees herself dancing with the dead man. The woman in his arms changes quickly back and forth between being Mary and then another dancer. Mary is thoroughly freaked out and starts screaming. Mary being very cold emotionally works really well because it makes the viewer wonder what is wrong. Only in the last section of the film does she lose her cool. It is a gradual progression, and a big reveal. The last two scenes, the film gives the viewer enough information to show why Mary is so odd. I will not give away more, for those who want to watch it. I highly recommend this film, but watch it in black and white. I found a color version on the web, but I think it would dampen the effects. I think I remember watching it as part of my arts camp in high school. I can see why. It’s such a good spooky film. A+ Side Note: Recently Ghost Adventures went to the real location where this was filmed, it was an old Dance Hall and getaway in the salt flats, which many thought had healing properties. Though the original building has been torn down (sadly), supposedly the site is ACTUALLY haunted with PLENTY of paranormal activity.