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FLICKS: Automatonophobia spreads with Annabelle: Creation

Posted on 17 August 2017 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Automatonophobia is a morbid fear of ventriloquist dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues and any inanimate object that simulates a sentient being. Besides having a similar sounding name, the most profitable movie of last weekend, Annabelle: Creation shares this morbid fear of inanimate objects coming alive.

Annabelle: Creation features the formation of the title character in the wood shop of Sam Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia). Sam’s daughter Bee teases her father by playing a game of hide-and- seek. After going to church with his wife, Esther (Miranda Otto), the future looks bright for the Mullins doll maker. Abruptly, Bee dies.

Twelve years later, a small orphanage moves into the Mullins house in the country. Sam is a bit gruff with Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) and the girls. The grieving man is generous enough to let the orphans loose in his home. However, Sam warns the orphans to not visit Bee’s old bedroom.

Being curious, Janice (Talitha Bateman), a polio survivor, sneaks into Bee’s room. Seeing a sealed closet door, Janice opens the door to find the Annabelle doll. Afterward, things go bump in the night and Janice gets involved with a supernatural game of hide-and- seek.

Winning strong mass critical acclaim with a good box office, Annabelle: Creation will be remembered as a classic scary movie. With links to the original Annabelle and the two Conjuring movies, this film features a dark standalone story.

Directed by David F. Sandberg, this film takes full advantage of rural stillness. Given that the title character is an immovable object, tension builds to a terrorizing level.  A crescendo is achieved with a soft, but disturbing denouement. Stay past the closing credits for a teaser featuring The Nun, the next movie of this original horror series created by James Wan. 

If you haven’t gotten enough of puppets, The Cult of Chuckie is penciled for a Halloween release, featuring the serial-killer possessed doll.

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