To say I was disappointed with 2014's Annabelle would be an understatement and so I can't say I went to see this sequel; Annabelle: Creation with any degree of enthusiasm despite hearing it was a lot better. The best part of The Conjuring (of which these films are a spin-off) was hearing the tale about the supremely creepy doll and so I expected great things for a film based solely on the doll. Instead what we got was a by the numbers demonic haunting movie that not only wasted huge potential but did nothing new or interesting at all. For the prequel I expected more of a haunting than a Chucky style animated doll and so I think it was that knowledge, as well as a genuinely more entertaining film that I found some peace with this one.
The film starts in the 1940's and a doll maker (Anthony LaPaglia) has just finished work on a new doll, obviously the titular one. Not long after his young daughter dies in a tragic car accident. Fast forward twelve years to the 1950's and the doll makers house has recently become an orphanage. Six girls that include best friends Linda (Lulu Wilson) and polio afflicted Janice (Talitha Bateman) move in, along with Sister Charlotte. Samuel (the doll maker) still lives on the property, along with his bedridden wife, and he informs the girl that a certain bedroom upstairs in the orphanage is to be out of bounds. One night Janice hearing strange noises is drawn to this room and discovers in a secret cupboard Annabelle. This discovery leads to an escalation in bizarre events and soon it appears that some sort of evil has it's sights set on Janice...
