Sometimes, but not often, it happens that the elements so to speak side of a film arouse so much interest to generate an autonomous development, a spin-off, as they say in these cases.
Evocation – The Conjuring told a different story, but in the beginning mentioned the story of a doll possessed by a ghostly presence, which had constituted a Annabelle Higgins, a girl of seven years, but which was actually something far worst. Because, as we are told, the demons sometimes use objects to achieve the desired purpose. James Wan, author of The evocation – The Conjuring (and much more in the horror of the last years, the saga that began with Saw – The Riddler to that of Insidious) had already addressed this issue (in the variant puppet ventriloquist) with Dead Silence, not getting particular results or from an artistic point of view or from the commercial one: one of his few (media) missteps. In the case of Annabelle, however, things went much better.
Annabelle is a foul-mouthed and sarcastic caricature, but an icon subtle and perverse, a representation of evil in a metaphysical sense. The doll itself is in fact a simulacrum of a living being: I need to play, usually, but the stare and its similarity to humans makes it also capable of sinister reflections of which the horror film it is often appropriate in both the classic version of the doll (Chucky aside, you can recall at least Dolls Stuart Gordon) and in that, more complex, the puppet ventriloquist (masterful the episode directed by Alberto Cavalcanti in Nightmares episodes in the film). The idea of ​​dedicating an entire movie Annabelle was so natural, even if the direction is not directly supervised by Wan, who has only retained the still important role of producer: the spin-off started with smaller ambitions, a low budget and less established authors, though very devoted to follow in the footsteps of Wan revisit the classic styles and clichés of horror. Unlike Chucky, the doll most famous horror, Annabelle is not a foul-mouthed and sarcastic caricature, but an icon subtle and perverse, a representation of evil in a metaphysical sense. But we must not forget that John R. Leonetti, Annabelle director, was director of photography of Child’s Play 3, belonging to the Chucky series, and then brought with it a specific very interesting baggage.
Annabelle reported to the center of the story the iconic value of the doll as spooky and scary object, not an imitation human life, however, used for games in which children pretend to be alive. And it is the immobility of Annabelle and suspect that in reality it is “alive” to give her the charm that has left. The fact that no independent life makes it the perfect vehicle for a demonic entity but aims at nothing, seeks to possess a living being, his soul, in particular.
As mentioned, the use of a macabre doll is not new in cinema, but, as for the other horrific aspects touched by Wan Factory, one that emerges from Annabelle is the ability to effectively use the stereotypes of the genre through an approach serious and focused on the perfect functioning of the mechanisms of creating suspense, often acting by subtraction and by suggestion. We do not try to invent, but to use the existing efficiently. Therefore, the characters are sketched with humanity and credibility in their feelings and their reactions, and the story remains, given the premises “incredible for granted”, in a context of adequate narrative logic. While it is telling a different story, atmosphere, setting and characters refer, with skill, a classic like Rosemary’s Baby. For all these things, probably, the audience rewarded the film (and typically other Wan): got what he was looking for a simple but addictive story and an adequate amount of frights.
The following Annabelle, Annabelle 2, change the characters that have to do with the doll and then allows you to put it in comparison with several people who know little or nothing of its danger. Directed this time is entrusted to David F. Sandberg who has already proved himself with Lights Out – Terror in the dark. The script is confirmed Gary Dauberman, who cut his teeth with some modest horror (Hunt murderess spider) or worse (The killer apes) before finding the gold vein with Annabelle. The cast stands out the participation of the excellent and experienced character actor Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto (War of the Worlds Spielberg), but it is clear that the character from which you expect the most is not played by an actor.
The success of Annabelle 2 will be measured in the ability to reproduce the positive elements of the first film in a new story that is not just a restatement of the original one, but knows develop a new narrative with the same conviction and engagement capabilities.