Review: 'Annabelle' keeps you on the edge of your seat

Annabelle. (Warner Bros Pictures)

Marcus Goh is a former Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. Tweets at @Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.

Secret ending? No, but the soundtrack is terrifying if they haven’t turned the lights on.

Running time: 98 minutes (~1.25 hours)

"Annabelle" is a horror movie set in the 70s, and serves as a spin-off of last year’s "The Conjuring." It centres around a young family that is haunted by a possessed doll. It stars Annabelle Wallis (Mia Gordon), Ward Horton (John Gordon), Tony Amendola (Father Perez), and Alfre Woodard (Evelyn).

"Annabelle" starts off rather in a rather dreary, boring fashion - but suddenly ramps up the horror once the haunting begins. The doll looks terrifying from the start, and quickly degrades during the film into an even more horrific toy that you don’t really want near you. The movie plays on this, of course, with plenty of long close ups on the doll.

But it never blinks.

John & Mia’s baby in great peril. (Warner Bros Pictures)

So why should you scare yourself silly with “Annabelle?”

An actual plot

There’s more than meets the eye to the haunting, and the characters actually have to do some investigating to figure out what is happening to them. There’s a proper set up, build-up, and pay off which keeps you interested not just in the haunting itself, but also how the plot unfolds. The supernatural element also doesn’t have the stereotypical backstory (where a similar haunting has occurred before), which further grounds the severity of their situation.

The 70s setting

The film is set in a very idyllic, peaceful time period, which is clearly evoked through the music, lighting, and colours used in the film. This innocence contrasts sharply against the evil of the doll, and magnifices the sheer helplessness of the protagonists. It makes the stakes so much higher, and forces a realisation that yes, the main characters are completely out of their depth in this situation.

Horror is delivered through tension and obfuscation

The movie relies a good deal on uncomfortably tight shots of mundane, everyday objects. It knows that you’re going to expect some sort of mutilation or injury at every turn, so instead of they don’t quite use the shock factor as much as you’d expect. Instead, they keep you on the edge of your seat by playing on your nervous anticipation of the next terrifying scene. It also leaves much of it up to your imagination by shrouding the supernatural in the shadows, or revealing it in brief snatches. After all, the best horror is that’s shaped by your own mind, right?

Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and John (Ward Horton). (Warner Bros Pictures)

Although “Annabelle” delivers on the scares, some of the performances left much to be desired.

No chemistry between the lead actors

Annabelle Wallis (yes, there’s an actress named Annabelle in a show about a haunted doll called Annabelle!) puts up a fine performance as the distressed victim of the haunting, but there’s absolutely no chemistry between her and Ward Horton, who plays her husband. There’s this frigid tension between them that begins even before the haunting starts, so you don’t quite identify with their pains.

Ward Horton (John Gordon) delivers a stilted performance

Ward Horton only has two expressions - a smile and a frown. And he nary has a hair out of place, regardless of the situation. This wooden performance dulls the tension of the movie, because the character of John Gordon hardly seems fazed by the supernatural mysteries surrounding him. Fortunately, Annabelle Wallis picks up the slack as mentioned earlier, and surprisingly, their cold relationship works to heighten this gulf between them.

Annabelle is happy to see you. (Warner Bros Pictures)

"Annabelle" is one of those movies which might seem to give it all away in the title (it starts and ends with a haunted doll), but surprises you with the amount of thought and effort put into producing it. My viewing partner watched it with eyes half-closed, necessitating my explanation at different points. And really, what better compliment is there for a horror film?

Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you like horror, yes!

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Definitely.

"Annabelle" opens in cinemas 2 October, 2014 (Thursday).