Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Annabelle (2014) - Leonetti's creepy if derivative Conjuring spin-off

11/30/2016

Annabelle (2014) - Leonetti's creepy if derivative Conjuring spin-off

♥♥♥

+ Best Mega-Hit Movie of the Year

A doll as creepy as the one featured on this poster for John R. Leonetti's Annabelle is best not brought into your home, - just a recommendation ...

A young couple in California in 1970 are expecting their first child, when they one night fall victim to a bloody feud that involves their satanic neighbors. The tragedy seems to leave a trace in the couple's new doll...

Annabelle places itself solidly in a Charles Manson-fraught context, centering on a highly sympathetic couple, well-played by Annabelle Wallis (The Brothers Grimsby (2016)) and Ward Horton (Letting Go (2012)). They provide a good core for the film, which is generally creepy without ever reaching the height of terror that is James Wan's great The Conjuring (2013), which Annabelle is a prequel/spin-off to.

Annabelle loans some elements from that film SPOILER and has a demon that is a bit like the one in Insidious (2010) (also by Wan), but it is still atmospheric and contains one especially scary sequence: SPOILER When Wallis gets followed through the building to the attic by the demon and can't get down again.

The Annabelle doll, (which is actually several dolls created for the film), is also an affecting ingredient in itself here. Annabelle is written by Gary Dauberman (Within (2016)) and directed by John R. Leonetti (The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006)).

John R. Leonetti: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The Conjuring (2013) - Best horror film in 7 years (cinematographer)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 6.5 mil. $

Box office: 256.8 mil. $

= Mega-hit

[Annabelle premiered September 26 (Russia) and runs 100 minutes. The huge success of Conjuring prompted this film of the Annabelle doll featured in that film. Filming took place in and around January 2014 in California. The film's producer and director Leonetti have claimed the set to be haunted. Filming reportedly took place in sequence/chronologically. The film opened #2, slightly behind fellow new release Gone Girl, to a huge 37.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another week (in #4) and grossed 84.2 mil. $ (32.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 19.1 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Brazil with 16.3 mil. $ (6.3 %). A sequel is set for release May 2017 with director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out (2016)) and star Miranda Otto. Annabelle is rotten at 29 % with a 4.4 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Annabelle?

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William Friedkin has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)