Annabelle: Creation

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  David F. Sandberg
Screenplay:  Gary Dauberman
Starring:  Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto
Running Time:  110 minutes
Genre:  Horror

In 1955, toymaker Samuel Mullins (LaPaglia) and his wife Esther (Otto), who never leaves her bedroom, grieve for their daughter Annabelle (Samara Lee) who died in an accident twelve years previously at the age of seven.  Despite their pain, they open their house to Sister Charlotte (Sigman) and six girls left homeless after the closure of their orphanage.  The first night, one of the girls Janice (Bateman), who suffers from polio, enters Annabelle's old bedroom and discovers a strange porcelain doll, which seems to be the focal point for powerful and deadly supernatural forces.

This details the story of the possessed doll, Annabelle, which was introduced in the movie The Conjuring (2013) and featured in it's own movie, Annabelle (2014).  Considering that this is a prequel to a spin-off, Annabelle: Creation is much better than might be expected.  It's very atmospheric with engaging characters and strong performances.  The scares are effective, sticking close to the old-school ghost train ride of the first The Conjuring film, and  the film allows itself time to build up before the horror elements kick in.  The films does suffer from the problem that a lot of prequels have with conclusions, in that it has to pave the way for other films instead of being it's own thing.  It's definitely worth checking out for anyone looking for a good creepy ghost story.

Linda (Lulu Wilson) and Annabelle in Annabelle: Creation       

Psycho II

Year of Release:  1983
Director:  Richard Franklin
Screenplay:  Tom Holland
Starring:  Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz
Running Time:  113 minutes
Genre:  Crime, mystery, horror

After 22 years in an institution Norman Bates (Perkins) is deemed sane and safe to return to the community.  One person who vocally disagrees is Lila Loomis (Miles), whose sister was one of those murdered by Norman.  Despite Lila's protests, Norman is released and returns to his old house overlooking the old Bates Motel.  He starts work as a chef's assistant at a small local diner, where he soon befriends young waitress Mary (Tilly).  However Norman soon starts receiving strange phone calls and threatening notes, apparently from his dead Mother, and then the murders start up again.  Is Norman back to his old ways?  Or is there someone else trying to tip him into insanity?

This film is obviously nowhere near as good as the Alfred Hitchcock original, but it is a good film in it's own right.  It is suspenseful and plays more as a psychological drama than a full on horror film.  Perkins again provides a great, tormented performance as Norman.  The film is stylishly shot, with a predilection for odd camera angles, however it looks very stagey (even some of the exterior scenes look as if they were filmed on a sound stage).  The script by Tom Holland (and no, not the current Spider-Man) has a few too many last minute rescues and a few too many twists, but it keeps the suspense and is always creepy.  It also benefits from a strong vein of dark comedy. 

What would Mother say?  Meg Tillis and Anthony Perkins in Psycho II