Annabelle

Quality is often irrelevant in a horror movie; shock is the key.

The script, by Gary Dauberman, is a clichd mess, lacking humor and surprises. But Leonetti stages some fright-worthy sequences ...

The scares are orchestrated with more flair than usual, even if the best of them are all spoiled in the trailer.

The toy in this prequel to agreeable period horror The Conjuring could hardly seem more sinister if it had presented Top of the Pops during the 1970s

What about this movie is supposed to scare us?

The set-pieces are effectively handled, with a few goose-bump moments along the way, but the story makes no sense whatsoever.

Though the film has the solid production design, cinematography and score that one can typically expect from The Conjuring Universe, the story and its characters are dull, lifeless, and generic.

“Annabelle” often teases us with what it potentially could have been. It lays out a promising premise but it never goes beyond the routine run-of-the-mill horror flick that we have seen over and over.

A tired procession of supernatural horror clichés.

The doll from The Conjuring is as wooden as the scares in James Wan's lacklustre horror