In case you did not read my first Scary Movies to Watch article reviewing Sinister and The Conjuring, here's what my #SearchForAScaryMovie is all about. Basically, I love to watch scary movies, and my goal is to find a horror movie that really scares me. After asking for suggestions on Facebook for a good scary movie, I compiled a list of movies to watch and started to review them. I rate them on a Scare Scale, which goes from 1 ("not scary/could make you fall asleep") to 5 ("totally scary/makes you jump when your toast pops"). This includes rating jump scenes on the same scale. So, this week I decided to watch and review "Annabelle."
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
"Annabelle"- 2014
Scare Scale: 3 1/2. It had some good jump scenes and some creepy imagery.
Brief Summary: A husband buys his pregnant wife a porcelain doll to complete a set that she has been working on for a while. Crazy cult people break into their house, attack them, and almost kill the wife and the baby. One of the cult members is shot by the police, and the other kills herself while holding the doll the husband got the wife. The house catches fire because the doll is creepy as heck and is now haunted. The husband throws the doll out, and they move. After the move, the doll is there and guess what: it's not haunted! Nope, the crazy cult people were working on summoning a demon into the human world and that demon wants a soul....
So, here are the jump scenes:
Jump Scene #1: "Late-Night Phone Call"
I gave this scene a 1 of 5. You can tell that there is something going on when the lights come on, and you can see the neighbors wake up. Do you expect to see a man covered in blood lunge at the wife after the husband points to the phone for her to call 911 and leaves? Probably not...
Jump Scene #2: "Bloody John"
This one got a 2 out of 5 mainly because it leads you to think, "Okay, why are you standing outside on your porch? Why are you going over there after hearing them scream? Why are you going back inside when you've seen their bodies and are covered in blood? Why the heck did you not lock your door after seeing your husband covered in blood?"
Jump Scene #3: "You're Not Going Anywhere"
I gave this one a 2 out of 5 also because you've seen the fire, and the scariest part is the fact that she just fell on her tummy. Now, your main thought is, "Oh no! The baby!" So when you see her get pulled back into the kitchen, you're more worried about what's in her belly than what's got her by the ankles.
Jump Scene #4: "Cool Breeze"
This one got a 3 out of 5 because after the curtains blow open you hear creepy children's laughter and the sewing machine (once again) turns on by itself.
Jump Scene #5: "Tag"
This one got a 2 of 5 because seeing a strange little girl in a white nightgown is a dead giveaway that something big and scary is about to go down. Whether or not you expect the small child to run at you screaming is another story.
Jump Scene #6: "Baby Carriage"
This is another of the higher ranked scenes, with a 3 out of 5. It's the strange baby carriage rolling out into the light and the bloody cloth inside that make the strange clawed hand that appears all the more scary.
Jump Scene #7: "Going Up"
This one is the highest-ranked, getting a whopping 4 out of 5! This one got me because not only did you see the outline of the demon on the stairs, but you also saw it suddenly get all Spiderman-ish on the ceiling!
Jump Scene: "Peek-a-Boo"
This one got a 2 out of 5 because when all of the doors in one room slam shut, you know something is about to go down. However, this scene is pretty much the first scene to show the demon using the doll.
One thing that got me the most when I watched this was how the demon kept going after the baby. I have five nieces and nephews, and anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not like it when you touch the babies. That's one thing that always gets me in horror movies! Also, it amazed me how trusting people were during the time period that this movie was based; like, they all just left their front doors unlocked!
Since this movie was said to be "based on the true story" of the Annabelle doll, I decided to research the doll herself; however, I do wish that they had stuck a little bit closer to the actual story of Annabelle. I mean, I understand using a porcelain doll instead of a Raggedy Anne (because let's face it, porcelain dolls can be creepy as heck), but they definitely added some "Hollywood" flare to the story. This entire back story is actually (spoiler) made up; the characters in this movie don't even exist. Though I did enjoy the hat tip to the original Annabelle doll in the final scene of the movie.
Above is the doll they use throughout the movie.
This is the actual Annabelle doll who is sitting in a glass case in the Warren's museum.
And above you can see I circled the Raggedy Anne doll in the background who looks very similar to the real Annabelle doll. Also I wish that they would have done more with the husband (John), because most of the movie revolves around the wife (Mia) and there is little-to-no character development for him throughout the movie.
If you're interested at all in the story of the Annabelle doll, I've included some links to websites about her and the Warrens:
- http://rhinoshorror.com/2014/09/04/annabelle-and-h...
- http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/annabe... <-- This one does a good job of comparing the movie to the story.
I've also included a video, if you're inclined to watch the story of Annabelle instead of reading it!
