I assume most of you posting negative reviews are teens or early 20s - Annabelle (2014) Discussion

[–] wolfmansgotnards11 10 years ago

Firstly, I'm 30.

Although I agree it DIDN'T SUCK. I thought it was above average for a spin-off.

I liked the setting of the movie. I liked the characters. I liked the premise of the movie and I liked that they didn't go too much for the cheap scares.

I am a sucker for ghost stories, except the ones where the characters need to do some bizarre thing to stop a curse etc etc.

I give Annabelle 7/10.

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

I am 35 and I've been watching horror movies since I was a nipper. Annabelle for me is a fairly average movie. It has cardboard characters, a wafer thin plot, not enough atmosphere and only two or three good set pieces. The ending was also an anticlimax and a bit of a cop out.

I also don't class Scream era horror movies as "old school." Old school horror for me goes as far back as Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

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[–] wolfmansgotnards11 10 years ago

Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari should NOT be old school horror for you if you are 35 lol. But I know what you mean.

Old School Horror for me is Halloween (1978), The Fog, Friday the 13th (1980) etc.

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

Ha, ha old school just refers to someone or something that is old-fashioned or traditional. It doesn't have to denote an era I've actually lived in :-)

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] kilaude 10 years ago

The Conjuring is an extremelly overrated movie imo. I gave it a 6. Nothing special.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] kilaude 10 years ago

I said imo = in my opinion. And as I recall, I insulted nobody while saying what I said. So please, shut the *beep* up, because I don't know you, nor have I given you the liberty to address me like the way you did.

Know your place.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] maineguy_04043 10 years ago

The conjuring was fantastic! Get the stick out of your ass.

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[–] brailsford 10 years ago

I agree, failing to have any original plot elements doesn't warrant quality horror especially given this is based on a good story to begin with and they somehow managed to make it boring as heck

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[–] jado_888 10 years ago

I'm 21 and I agree with everything you said, Annabelle was scary and creepy, I gave it an 8, the only thing I didn't like was ward Horton

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

I can't help but like you from your IMDB name...I'm watching the making of the Monster Squad right as I type :)

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

And wolfman I saw your list of top 10 movies from when you were a kid and it's fabulous...Fright Night was one of the best ever (remake was decent too FOR a remake)...there are some great movies out there that don't need sex, violence and blood to be scary! Sad thing is that's what the kiddies want to see

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[–] wolfmansgotnards11 10 years ago

Thanks annettes0202. I'm glad someone appreciates good old fashioned 80s horror.

And although Annabelle wasn't set in the 80s, it DID feel a whole lot better than the GUFF we are getting in this days horror market. This was another reason I didn't hate it.

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[–] genevaporter 10 years ago

In my 20s here. I liked it, except for the ending. It looked too easily solved.

I thought the movie was very creepy. I liked its subtlety. When I saw the doll standing, I thought it was frightening, but at the same time, I hoped it was not going to start moving around like Chucky. (Thankfully, it did not turn into Chucky.)

For the record, I liked the first The Woman in Black movie from the 1980s more than the Daniel Radcliffe one. I agree that the CGI in the latter looked cartoonish, and that the former was a lot more impressive.

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[–] Seltheus 10 years ago

You do realize that Scream was a "parody" of the Slasher genre, not horror, right?

Also, I'm 31, grew up with a lot of horror movies and no, I don't give a crap if horror movies use a lot of CGI, gore or whatever, as long as it supports the plot of the movie and fits the scene that is shown. I'm not against "subtle" low production value effects either...once again, as long as they fit the scene shown.

Annabelle was at best a mediocre horror movie...falling short its "Sequel" by FAR and overall really disappointing, especially in the acting and screenplay department. The story sucked, the actors played horrible...

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

Then name 3 good horror movies you have seen in the past few years that were better than this one

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

I can answer that question easily and for me there are more than just three:

The Babadook
Sinister
Insidious 2
The Conjuring
Afflicted
The Taking of Deborah Logan
The Borderlands
The Woman in Black
The Awakening
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Lovely Molly
The Evil Dead remake
Oculus

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

Well now you totally lost me cause The Marked Ones, Insidious 2 and Sinister (though it COULD have been good) were three of the worst horror movies I have EVER seen...the Marked Ones was just bad all around...horrible plot, horrible acting, horrible camera work...Sinister had all the workings of a good horror movie til they blew it about half way through...and Insidious 2?? Ruined the entire first movie by basically showing everything that was in the dark! Hated them all...what about the 5 best EVER? That gives you a little more range than the garbage that has come out the last few years

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

Typical IMDB hyberbole.

Well, now you've lost me too as we are talking about personal opinion here. In my opinion all those movies are better than Annabelle. I also noticed how you singled out just three on my list yet ignored all the others which I assume you didn't have a problem with. Does that mean you agree the other movies I mentioned are better than Annabelle?

For me The Marked Ones, Insidious 2 and Sinister were much better than Annabelle. They had more fleshed out characters, more likeable characters and they didn't have an ending thrown in that seemed out of place. Sinister did lose its way slightly in the last half hour but the ending still worked.

The plot in The Marked Ones wasn't that bad especially compared to the one in Annabelle which was nothing special either. Insidious 2 didn't ruin anything: all it did was give one of the villains a bit more backstory.

I could give you my five best ever horror films but you'd probably just disagree with them for the sake of it. Let's see if my prediction is correct and here is my top five:

Alien
Don't Look Now
The Changeling
The Exorcist
Suspiria

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

I loved the Changling! (The old one not the remake)...Exorcist will always be the scariest I have ever seen with the Omen a close tie.
I haven't seen all the movies on your list but when I looked up the Awakening and that one was awful too! The entire movie nothing happened!!
The Evil Dead was one of my favorite remakes...more of a redo cause it wasn't the same as the first (characters were different)
Let me tell you I HATE CGI...it ruins most good movies...that's why I didn't love the Woman In Black...soon as I saw her I was done with that movie...I'm tired of them throwing in things for shock factor or just cause the young kids have no imagination anymore and they want to see the demon or ghost (Blair Witch...great movie, never saw her, and the dumb kids complained the entire way out of the theater...I dont WANT to see her)

Now here are a few of my favorites
-The Caller
- The Orphanage
-The Strangers
-The Omen
-It
-Cabin In the Woods
-Drag Me to Hell
-The Fly
-Poltergeist (another remake in the works too)
-Trick R Treat
-House of the Devil
-insidious (the first one)
-Fright Night (the original)

Those are a few off the top of my head that are good true horror movies not some "made for idiot teenager" horror

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

Ha, ha I see you have strong opinions like a lot of horror fans :-) I am more easygoing when it comes to horror as I've been watching them since the eighties and I've seen so many of them. It takes a lot for me to really dislike a horror film.

I know what you mean about CGI but I think if it's used well and sparingly it's fine; I prefer practical effects though especially in old classics like John Carpenter's The Thing.

Some of the films on your list are classics such as Fright Night, The Fly, Poltergeist and The Omen. I also enjoyed some of the newer ones like Cabin in the Woods, Insidious, The Caller, Drag Me to Hell and House of the Devil.

The Awakening is indeed quite a slow movie but I was cool with that. It is more of a classic ghost story like the Innocents for example.

I do agree that often what you don't see is better, that is why The Haunting is highly regarded as such a classic. The elevator scene in Annabelle for me would've been better too if we didn't see the demon. When I heard the demon growling when the elevator doors opened my imagination conjured up a fierce demon. When I actually saw the demon though I was disappoined; it couldn't match up to my own imagination.

I recommend Suspiria by Dario Argento if you haven't seen it. You should also check out Magic with Anthony Hopkins (it features a ventriloquist's dummy), Salem's Lot ( the Tobe Hooper version) and The Taking of Deborah Logan if you haven't seen them. Also, be sure to check out the other movies on my list that you haven't seen. Don't Look Now in particular is an outstanding film if you can hack the fairly slow pace.

Also, there are obviously plenty of other great foreign movies like Ringu, Ju On: The Grudge, The Eye (the original Pang brothers version), A Tale of Two Sisters, Martyrs, REC 1 and 2 etc.

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

I hated that they showed the demon! I just said that when I was talking about it the other day! I said they should have made him darker so you can't see it as much...a couple more I like...Cats Eye, The Twilight Zone Movie and It's Alive

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

Yeah I agree and that would've been great!

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[–] hazinbriz 10 years ago

Personally I liked seeing the demon.... James wan is famous for 'showing all of his ghouls in plain sight' and i like that as I'm quite interested in creature design.... and when I saw it... my blood ran cold!

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[–] Sugarminx 9 years ago

...Exorcist will always be the scariest I have ever seen with the Omen a close tie. ...

LOL. Can't get much closer than a tie 

But you're right. The Exorcist is the scariest film ever!

So put some spice in my sauce, honey in my tea, an ace up my sleeve and a slinkyplanb

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[–] romik_kuts 10 years ago

You just have a bad taste, period.

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[–] HorrorFan021980 10 years ago

Hahaha amen to that :)

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[–] byron418 10 years ago

I'm 38. I watched this movie, kind of enjoyed it in a temporary way, and have since completely forgotten everything that happened in it. And that was just a few weeks ago.

The movie was decent, but in a disposable type of way. Not at all memorable. You only enjoy it in the moment, but afterward, it has no lingering effect at all.

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[–] asiamatron 10 years ago

^ Plenty of modern horror movies are like that for some people, especially the ones that focus on jump scares. They are akin to riding on a roller coaster: you get a cheap thrill and then often forget about it afterwards.

Funnily enough I can actually remember most of what happened in Annabelle which I find surprising; talking about the movie on IMDB might have something to do with it. I also think because I am a big horror fan I tend to have a better memory for horror movies than some other genres.

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