Annabelle Creation Review

Remember that creepy doll from the Conjuring series and the disappointing spin off that followed? Well, it's back with a prequel! James Wan returns to produce the movie. He has directed many successfull horror movies such as Saw, Insidious, and most importantly The conjuring 1 and 2. Interestingly, James Wan was not involved in the first Annabelle movie... and it was not very good. So hopefully his involvement in Annabelle creation makes for a better movie! So do James Wan and director David F. Sandberg get the second attempt at an Annabelle movie right? Read on to find out because this is my Annabelle creation review! Creepy images throughout! Oh and i'll warn you before you get to any spoilers like usual.

Annabelle Creation is the spinoff prequel movie that, as explained in the title, tells the story of how the Annabelle doll was created and how it became evil. The movie focuses on a group of orphans cared for by a nun. They move into a very large house owned by a generous man, Samuel Mullins, who takes care of his sick wife. Things get dark very quickly when Mr. Mullins tells Janice, the young girl with the broken leg, that she isn't allowed into the locked room. Ever. In typical horror movie fashion, Janice enters the room and the main plot of the movie kicks into action. The movie seems fairly typical and cliche until the movie unexpectedly switches it's focus and point of view. It kept the movie fresh and prevented it from dragging throughout.

The characters of the young orphans have minimal but adequate development. Personalities and

dynamics are established quickly and this is another factor that supports the movies pacing and keeps it very consistent and smooth. As for horror tropes which is obviously one of the most important things in a horror movie, Annabelle creation uses the normal tricks, tropes and suspense but uses it well. It's something you have seen before but isn't boring to watch again. One thing I really liked about the movie is that it brings back scarecrows! Horror movies haven't used scarecrows for so long and its great to see the creepy fellas back in action. As much as CGI improves and horror movies try to change, a scarecrow in a barn that subtly moves as a character looks away and then looks back will ever get old!

The ending of the movie is the typical high intensity, scare after scare, sequence where the evil is let lose and basically tries to kill everyone. The scene is good and probably beats out most of the other recent horror movie end sequences. The movie is smaller in scale than its Conjuring siblings but does well to present the horror or evil as being formidable. The movie does well to sprinkle in some cool new elements amongst the horror where unorthodox camera angles are used or the scenes go further with the evil than you may expect them to. The movie also does very well to keep the feeling of an evil presence around even during the cool down scenes. Some horror movies often have a damaged final result due to killing the scare or horror completely in these cool down scenes, so Annabelle creation does well to avoid this common mistake.

"He's right behind me ins't he?"

**SPOILER ALERT, skip to next paragraph to avoid!!!** Annabelle creation does a great job of

linking itself to the other movies in the series. The most obvious reference is clearly the doll itself which was first seen in The Conjuring. One of the more interesting links comes at the end of the movie which shows Janice, who was possessed by the demon being sent into care where she has assumed the identity of Annabelle and is taken in by a family. The scene shows her grow up and 12 years later attack and kill her family. This may seem like nothing but the scene quickly moves to show a neighbour being woken buy the noise. This neighbour is Mia, the main character of the first Annabelle movie. This ending connects the two movies in a very cool way. The most awesome reference is actually an easter egg for a future spin off. The Conjuring 2 showed a hella creepy character known as Valek or more simply, 'The Nun'. You remember that creepy blue face nun thingy that scared the hell out of you in The Conjuring 2? Well it turns out the nun in Annabelle creation has had a past experience with it. This along with an after, after, credits scene goes hand in hand with a recent announcement that the nun is getting its own spinoff! Im so ready for that. I wonder what will come next in the series; The Conjuring 3, Annabelle 3, or The Nun? We'll have to wait and see.

Ok so i'm pretty sure the kind of horror movie where you can't sleep after watching it (The exorcist for example) is dead and gone away. So don't go into watching Annabelle creation thinking it will be the scariest thing you have seen for a long while. It's not. It is however, above the general standard of horror movies. The concept won't blow you away at all because it's been done so many times before and the movie follows a slightly inclined path of enjoyment that doesn't really reach any heights that will make it memorable. When it comes to making horror movies these days, you can only beat what is in front of you. Most new horror movies have the same plots and use the same tricks to scare us. Annabelle does the same but does it a little better. The focus on multiple children has already been used in the first Conjuring movie so although it seems they re-used it to create familiarity or consistency, it appeared to be a little stale and presented itself as nothing new.

The conjuring series is arguably the best current horror series with Insidious just behind. Annabelle creation is good. It is a smaller movie than The Conjuring so it's almost expected to not be as good. But with that being said, Sandberg does well to follow on well from James Wan's conjuring series and does a hell of a lot better than the team responsible for the first Annabelle. It's a smaller movie that keeps the evil presence at large and succeeds in keeping said evil formidable and frightening. The jump scares are nothing new but work well due to the use of new camera angles and classic scenes with dimming lights done in smarter ways than usual. The acting is actually pretty good! This is no surprise and is in line with the rest of The Conjuring series. This is one of the factors that tends to place the series above it's competitors. No movie in the Conjuring series has managed to top the first and Annabelle creation is no different. It makes a good attempt and will draw in interest for another possible movie but is unlikely to be remembered. With this being said, Annabelle creation get a Blog of Steel horror rating of 7/10. Seems too high of a rating I know, but I have rated this movie on a specific horror scale. This movie won't compete with the best movies of the year but will compete with best horrors of the year.

I hope you enjoyed my review and it has helped you decide whether or not you will watch Annabelle creation. If you have already seen it or are planning to, let me know what your thoughts are by commenting below. Click that follow button on the top right of the page and subscribe by email just below if you haven't already. You can also tweet me @Akash_Sond if you have a request for me to write about something in particular. Give me a follow on instagram as well @Cashman_97. The last few blog posts have gotten higher views than ever before and each week it keeps growing so be part of that movement and share this blog post with anyone who you think may enjoy reading it! Thanks for reading and I'll be back with another post soon!

Arrow Review and Preview!

"My name is Oliver Queen and I was stranded on a hellish island for five years..." But not really because he actually went to Russia, Hong Kong, back to Starling and then finally back to the island for a couple days. That's right, this week i'm talking about Arrow! The first two seasons were awesome, the third was pretty bad and the fourth was a little weird. So how was the fifth? Read on to find out because this is my Arrow season 5 review and season 6 preview. Enjoy! **Spoilers for Arrow season 5**

Season 5 Review.

Season 5 of Arrow was incredible. Right from the first episode where it kicked off with fast paced action and incredible stunts it quickly introduced new characters such as Wild Dog and Dinah Drake to the point where it feels like we've had them for two seasons already. The seasons pacing was great, every episode was better and different than the previous. In the episodes focusing on Oliver's mayorship, Arrow took on issues such as gun control and delivered thought provoking well done episodes that were more intelligent than any other DC show. Oliver Queen was tested like never before. He questioned all that he believed to be true, re-evaluated his own motives and lost belief in his own ability. This wasn't his choice, it was the doing of the seasons big villain, Prometheus. Prometheus is the reason why season 5 of Arrow is the best season any DC TV show has ever had.

The show perfectly showed how intimidating and frightening the villain is by having him kill Thobias Church, who was presumed to be the secondary villain of the season. Along with the scare factor, The show nailed the revealing. It was expected but simultaneously so unexpected. The scenes where Oliver and Adrian are working together at the mayors office has got to be some of the best and most tense scenes of television I have ever seen. Prometheus was the smartest villain Oliver has ever faced. He understood Oliver and used that to break him mentally and physically. Prometheus knew no boundaries and it's that, along with the unpredictability of what he will do next that made this season so exciting. Season 5 of Arrow was not Oliver Queen's season, it will be remembered as Prometheus' season. With the season full circling and concluding the island flashbacks, Oliver will no longer be as mentally burdened by his past. The question is, who will live to see the new Oliver Queen after Prometheus blew up the island with most of team Arrow still on it? Off the back of this incredible season, let's have a look at what we know about season 6 so far.

Season 6 Preview. 

So we all know that everyone isn't dead. In fact some characters have already been confirmed from comic-con where the show released a trailer for episode 5X01 WATCH IT HERE. I am very excited for this season of Arrow. Details and descriptions were released at comic-con and all of them are very promising. Some of the details include the producers saying that the things that fans loved about season 5 will be included in season 6 which is good because this clearly wasn't the case transitioning from season 2 to 3. From the trailer, we see Oliver in some scenes with his son William, this possibly hints at Willaim's mother, Samantha dying in the Lian Yu explosion. Having Oliver focus on being a Father will bring a whole new light and dynamic to the show that I really think will work. Can one man really be a vigilante, the mayor and a father?

Arrow is loved for it's fight choreography and stunts. Producer Marc Guggenheim revealed that season 6 will attempt some of the biggest fights and stunts that the show has ever seen. The increase in stunts and practical effects may have something to do with the big bad of the season, Richard Dragon. Without spoiling too much, Richard Dragon is basically one of the best hand to hand combatants the DC universe has ever seen. He has faced off against many and won. His combat skills are definitely up their with the likes of Ra's al Ghul, Batman, Nightwing and Deathstroke. Nothing more could really be revealed at comic-con due to the risk of spoiling the show, so what else do we hope to see in season 6?

What I hope to see.

The biggest thing I hope to see this season of Arrow is just more of the same. KEEP IT CONSISTENT! Arrow is my favourite DC show and I stuck with it through season 3 and 4 in hopes it would get a revival. It did, the show came back with it's best season. It received wide praise from all over the fanbase so I would hope that the director and producers just stick to what they know is working. Drastically changing the show is a bad idea, however softly rebooting isn't so much of a bad idea. With the flashbacks ending, Oliver's tortured past no longer burdening him, and most of the team suffering physical or mental injuries from the island explosion, Arrow finds itself in a great place. A place where it can make changes to aspects of characters personalities that didn't work. They can almost start the show over again. Season 1-5 could almost be a prologue or 'pilot show' with season 6 being the first season of something brand new but also very familiar. The shows take on the comic book archer started very dark and it is now possible, if they wanted to, to start lifting Olivers seriousness and brooding into a slightly more positive outlook and maybe even some displays of humour. If they were to attempt this I would urge them not to go crazy, the show works when its dark and familiar.

I hope to see more of the secondary characters this season especially Diggle and Wild Dog. I personally think they had the best arcs last season and Wild Dog quickly became a favourite character of mine. Something I am super excited to see is the showdown of the Canaries. Black Siren VS Black Canary (Dinah Drake). It was teased in last seasons finale but hopefully we will see more. The fallout from season 5 is an easy ploy to mature characters and fast track their development. I hope the show doesn't shy away from taking on societal problems like it did last season with the episode on gun control. Oliver is still mayor and he should still be facing political issues and trying to solve them. This arc in fact, could take up the episode space that will be left by the absence of the flashbacks. All in all, what I am most excited to see is the stunts and fight choreography. Even in the shows worst seasons, the fighting was among the best on TV and I am hoping it will only get bigger and better. We even see Oliver flip off of a building in the trailer!

This weeks Instagram shoutout goes to @arrowcentral, if you are a fan of arrow and want to stay up to date with any castings or season details, this is the page you want to follow! I've been following them for some time now and have interacted with them on their posts. If you want an arrow discussion or debate, the comment section of any of their posts will satisfy. Who knows, you might even see me commenting! So go give them a follow and show the page some love. Click here to go to their page!

So that's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed season 5 as much as I did or have now been convinced to watch it. What are you hoping to see in season 6? let me know by commenting below this post or tweeting me @Akash_Sond. Also give me a follow on instagram @cashman_97. If you liked reading this post, click that follow button at the top right of the page and subscribe by email just below that so you never miss a post! If you want to, go back and read some of my previous posts, I have reviewed many popular movies and shows. If you know anyone who might be interested in reading my blog, be sure to share it with them, theres a few little buttons under this paragraph which allow for super easy sharing to some popular social networking sites like Facebook and twitter. So go on, share it! See you next week with another post.