Annabelle: Creation

Cast: Anthony Lapaglia, Samara Lee, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson, Talitha Eleana Bateman and Stephanie Sigman.

Director: David F. Sandberg

Release Date: 2017

Running Time: 1hr 49 minutes

Genre: Horror

Rating: 15

Format: Sky Movies

Synopsis:

12 years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they soon become the target of the dollmakers possessed creation, Annabelle.

Based on the terrifying true story about a haunted doll named "Annabelle", that still to this day is kept locked away in a museum owned by real life Paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The most disappointing thing about this film is the fact that none of it is actually based on the true story of Annabelle Higgins. Higgins was murdered and left to rot in a field, none of which is ever mentioned or shown in the movie. Although it ties in with "Annabelle" and "The Conjuring" fairly well, it also steers away from it's terrifying originality. I was terribly dissapointed to know that director James Wan would not be returning to direct "Annabelle" or its prequel. Unfortunately like many horror movies these days, it gets caught up in the hype of Hollywood, filmmakers claim that their film is based on a true story, very rarely are they ever. More often than not, it is done as a publicity stunt.

It's a shame viewers will get more of an adrenaline rush from the documentary on Annabelle Higgins, rather than a movie, that really had the potential to tell the horrifying story in great detail. The movie starts off exceptionally good, your introduced to characters and shown a backstory, it however doesn't take long for the movie to go downhill very quickly. Director David Sandberg has relied on far too many jump scares and predicality, that viewers are left working out the puzzle before they've even been handed it. Understandably this may be why director James Wan turned down the movie, due to it's very poorly written script. The haunted doll that Annabelle is thought to possess in real life was in fact a Raggedy Ann doll, why Sandberg thought the need to change it to a wooden doll is anyone's guess.

Lulu Wilson and Talitha Bateman star as young orphans Linda and Janice, inseparable best friends with a love for dolls. Both deliver very good performances considering the script they were given to work with. It's unfortunate that a few scenes made absolutely no sense, or had nothing to do with the story itself. In one scene a scarecrow comes to life and chases after the orphans girls. Why? It was added purely for the scare factor, which considering the film is a horror makes sense, right? Yes, to a degree, it's sad that all it really did though was make for a very cheesy and irrelevant scene, that had nothing to do with the plot. This movie had so much potential, it was really let down by the script and it's execution.

The lighting department and set designers are what really make this film work. Although the doll isn't authentic in the way it looks, it's still incredibly creepy too look at. It's unfortunate that director David Sandberg essentially stole a few ideas from James Wan's incredible thriller "Insidious", the demon that lives within the doll looks remarkably like the demon shown in the "Insidious" franchise. Although the CGI is terrific, there was no originality. Sandberg has relied far too much on jump scares and the ideas of other filmmakers to produce a movie that he hoped would be the same quality as "The Conjuring", I'm sorry to say that it was nowhere near as good. James Wan knows how to thrill audiences psychologically, Sandberg still has a long way to go if he really wants to thrill his viewers. Disappointing.

2.5/5 stars

Waterworld

Cast: Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Robert A.Silverman and Gerard Murphy.

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Release Date: 1995

Running Time: 2hrs 15 minutes

Genre: Adventure

Rating: 12

Format: Netflix

Synopsis:

In the future where the polar ice caps have melted and Earth is almost submerged, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw smokers and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl find dry land.

It's been reported that "Waterworld" was one of the worst movies to have been made in the early nineties. Essentially it is "Mad Max" on water, however no two movies are the same, no matter what people may say to you. A fair amount of movie fans dislike the movie due to it's unrealistic storyline. Forgive me, but I don't remember director Kevin Reynolds claiming it to be scientific or to be a representation of the near future. It's a movie. It was made purely for entertainment purposes, not for NASA to analyze at a later date. Unfortunately if you go in with this sort of mindset you never going to enjoy it for what it is. As a member of the audience you are not told what year "Waterworld" is set in, however personally that is what makes it all the more entertaining. It could, essentially be thousand upon thousands of years into the future. As if we have a right to judge what may or may not happen?

In this post apocalyptic waterworld, people are living primarily on boats. How these people came to survive is a mystery, however that's part of the fun. I don't know about you, but I don't always want my questions to be answered. Mariner (Costner) finds himself surrounded by a community of people living on an island made from the rubble of what was once Earth. Helen (Tripplehorn) believes that he knows where dryland is. When their island is attacked by "smokers" Helen and Enola escape with him in search of dryland. A place they believe to still be inhabited by humans. Will they make it there in time though before the thieving "smokers" catch up with them? The "smokers" live on board an old oil tanker, that seems to have an infinite supply of oil and cigarettes. Interestingly, the "smokers" refer to the oil as black stuff. Are they aware of it's full potential?

Kevin Costner delivers a good performance, although it's not one of his best performances, he slips into the main role of the mariner very well. Costner pulls off action sequences brilliantly and proves once again he's the ultimate hero. Dennis Hopper delivers an excellent performance as Deacon, head of the smokers. Hopper is very good at playing the bad guy, although he found himself type cast throughout most of his career, he had an excellent way of bringing charm and humour to his more often than not, psychopathic characters. Tina Majorino steals the show as young Enola, beautifully innocent and fearless she works excellently alongside Hopper and Costner. Character development is very interesting throughout. As the human race, is this how desperate we would become to find dryland?

Although "Waterworld" certainly wouldn't go down as a piece of art, it should be for it's spectacular cinematography, something that really shouldn't be missed, considering the problems the actors faced during production. It's clear a lot of work went into the production of this film, in making it look as authentic as possible. I found myself asking a lot of questions during the viewing of this film. Where did Mariner get dirt from? Has he actually seen dryland, despite saying he hasn't? Perhaps he didn't want to disappoint others into believing there was more then there actually is? 99% of the Earth is submerged underwater. Does Enola know more than what she is letting on? Sometimes we don't need to know the answers to the questions we ask when viewing a movie for the first time. Half the fun can be trying to figure out what sort of message the director was hoping to give. A lot of effort went into making sure this film made it onto the big screen. Don't judge too harshly, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

4/5