Annabelle Comes Home

"Annabelle Comes Home" (2019, Gary Dauberman, New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions, The Safran Company, Warner Bros. Pictures) is the seventh film in The Conjuring Universe created by James Wan and is the third feature film centred around the haunted doll, Annabelle, whom we were introduced to in the original The Conjuring and who is based on an actual case by the real life Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Starting from the doll being taken from the young nurses in the first Conjuring film, we follow her home to Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren's locked room full of other haunted artefacts. Some time later, the Warren's daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace), is being babysat by family friend, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) and her friend, Daniela (Katie Sarife). Unfortunately, it turns out that Daniela had other, more personal reasons for tagging along and she breaks into the artefact room searching for a way to contact the spirit of her father. Unwittingly touching everything and anything she can lay her hands on, Daniela also releases Annabelle from her blessed case allowing the doll to wreak havoc on herself, Judy, Mary Ellen and Mary Ellen's admirer, Bob (Michael Cimino) who had come to the house to serenade Mary Ellen in a badly timed attempt at seduction.

A really fun entry into a series that I feel was getting pretty tired. The very limited setting of the Warren's house makes for a good old fashioned spook house feel and the scare scenes are, in usual Wan style, well portrayed and effective. The fact that Annabelle is given the power to raise other spirits nearby makes the variety of ghosts attacking the teens and kid pretty diverse. Personally, I enjoyed the first Conjuring but felt a little cold on the subsequent films, but I found this film to be a fun ride and the first, since the original film, to spark some life back into the creepy little doll despite the doll herself getting very limited screen time. It's jumpy and a little silly - just what I wanted out a spooky doll film.

[Image: New Line Cinema, et al]

Hani

Hell House LLC 2

"Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel" (2018, Stephen Cognetti, Cognetti Films) is the sequel to 2016's found footage jump-fest, "Hell House LLC".

I personally really enjoyed the original film and you can find my thoughts on it here.

Following on from the events of the first film which covered a documentary team investigating the supposed technical issues which caused tragedy at the opening night of popular Halloween Haunt, Hell House, at the Abaddon hotel in 2009, the second film focuses on the public's continued curiosity of the cause of the tragedy.

Having reached some level of infamy after the documentary was released, Mitchell (Vasile Flutur) ventures back into the Abaddon Hotel after investigative journalist, Jessica Fox (Jillian Geurts), and her team receive an anonymous tip off of breakthrough evidence within the abandoned building. Despite Mitchell's misgivings they head back inside and discover some more of the truth behind the hotel's dark presence.

The familiar surroundings and creation of continuity are very effective and the film manages to continue the story in a believable way, demonstrating that the documentary inspired several wannabe ghost hunters to venture into the hotel with their camera phones and meet some unfortunate circumstances.

A lot of the jump scares are familiar, too, but this isn't to the detriment of the film and actually really pleased me as a viewer. The hotel doesn't change the rules for the sequel, it just reveals more of its nature to the camera. There are one or two elements where we are shown perhaps too much compared to the first film where a lot of the scares were in the subtlety of the horror, but on the whole the sequel delivers a lot of the same level of creep that the first did.

In the pattern of most sequels, however, the film does not quite meet the quality of the original and the characters and actors do not quite convey the same natural relationships and repartee that the original cast did. Things do sometimes feel a little more obviously acted. Although some of these scenes took me out of the story momentarily, the action within the hotel would quickly draw me back in.

The film delivers many more twists than the first and some of the revelations are delivered at a fast pace. A good few of these are succinct and creative, but the volume of them did lose some of the ingenuity and simplicity of the original plot. The story flow of the sequel is also less linear than the original and demands a little more effort from the viewer to keep things in place.

All in all, "Hell House LLC: The Abaddon Hotel" delivers an effective sequel that continues the story from the first film and sets up a comfortable starting place for more in the series. Although it didn't feel as immersive as the original, I certainly enjoyed it and look forward to a third.

[Image: Cognetti Films]

Hell House LLC

"Hell House LLC" (2016, Stephen Cognetti, Cognetti Films) is a found footage mock-umentary film set in a Halloween haunt.

The film circulates around a film crew trying to unravel the mystery of a tragedy which struck a haunted house in an abandoned hotel. Although authorities reported a 'malfunction' as the cause of the panic, survivor footage and accounts have made it seem like something more sinister happened. When someone steps forward as a witness who was involved in the tragedy, along with a lot of new, unseen footage, the crew think they might be on the verge of a breakthrough. We follow the story of the group of haunters setting up shop in the small town just outside of New York city and see first hand the events as they unfolded.

I'm not the biggest fan of found footage as a rule. The jumpy camera style gives me motion sickness and often the acting is unnatural and distracting. But, "Hell House LLC" manages to be dark, entertaining and filled with effective jump scares. The camera motions are very typical of a found-footage flick, but the effective screen cutting, styling and overall storytelling keep the viewer engaged and stop it from becoming boring.

The characters are well evolved and a good sense of camaraderie (and animosity) is built up effectively. Some of the jump scares are pretty by-the-book, but these are well paced and nicely shot. There are a few, however, that actually elicited a jump from me and the use of one of the haunt props is extremely well done. It is definitely this that made the film stand out for me and has brought it into my annual Halloween watch list.

The film delivers an effective scare fest and neat plot twist that creates a great Halloween party atmosphere. And while the plot isn't exactly breaking any new ground, it does inject the jump-scare, found footage genre with a fun, atmospheric entry.

[Image: Cognetti Films]

Hani

The Other Side of the Door

“The Other Side of the Door” (2016, Johannes Roberts, 42, Kriti Productions, TSG Entertainment) is a British-Indian supernatural horror about a family tragedy, the powers of grief and not doing what you’re told.

Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Michael (Jeremy Sisto) love their trip to India so much that they decide to stay there and start a family. They enjoy a life there for some time, until tragedy strikes and Maria is forced to choose to save one of her two children after a terrible accident. She saves her youngest child, daughter Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky) and cannot get back in time to save her eldest son, Oliver (Logan Creran).

Grief-stricken and guilt ridden, Maria is distant and suicidal. Her housekeeper, Piki (Suchitra Pillai-Malik) offers Maria a chance to speak to Oliver one last time at an abandoned temple, infamous for sitting on the line between the living and the dead. Maria leaps at the chance to tell her son how sorry she is, but she cannot resist the urge to do the one thing Piki warned her not to; she opens the door…

The premise is really good, standard horror fayre, but this film just doesn’t deliver. The styling is very J-horror and feels odd in the Indian setting. And the ‘evil’ ghost of the son is just too literal. But the main issue is just the plot-by-numbers style of storytelling and the fact that the story is based in India and features only one main Indian character. 

Our protagonist, Maria, is a massive pain in the ass who’s moved to India and had children there and hasn’t bothered to learn the language, make friends and even raise her children to understand the local culture. Other than using some Hindu mythology within the story, they might as well have set this film anywhere else.

Anyway, the ghosts are fun, but the jump scares are too obvious and used over-liberally and Maria doesn’t seem to react to the ghosts in the normal way. I get thinking you have your kid back and reading him bedtime stories, but when a creepy-ass ghost creature starts following you, I doubt you’d stand there staring at it….

The film just wasn’t as refined as the story deserved and came across as a cheap knockoff J-horror rather than something new. 

There were certainly good elements, but as a whole the film didn't quite hit the spot. 

[Image: Kitri Productions, et al]

Hani

The Pact

"The Pact" (2012, Nicholas McCarthy, Entertainment One, IFC Midnight, ContentFilm International) is an American haunted house horror.

Nicole (Agnes Bruckner) and Annie (Caity Lotz) are sisters. Their mother has died and they are reluctantly (and seperately) cleaning out the old house. They both had unhappy childhoods and do not want to be there.

When Nicole disappears whilst in the house, Annie goes to investigate, and look after Nicole's young daughter. It isn't long before Annie, Nicole's babysitter and a cop are all investigating the strange happenings of the house.

They seek the help of Stevie (Haley Hudson), a strange girl who can see things... Mainly dead people.... and she helps them to uncover a whole heap of creep.

It's a typical modern horror film. Bumps, jumps and dodgy camera angles. One thing I'll say is that the director does keep us watching, and often does not give all of the jumps when they're expected. I like that. I don't want it to be too predictable.

The gore and effects are good and there's a fair few jumps that aren't as cheapy thrilly as we've seen with other modern horrors recently.

However, the plot is just too tropey and dumb. I didn't love the reveal so much, and have to say that it's a pretty basic modern horror that's geared more to the non-horror fan who may be up for a horror for a change rather than anyone actually interested in being scared.

Tame, but not the worst.

[Image: Entertainment One]

 

Hani

Drag Me To Hell

"Drag Me To Hell" (2009, Sam Raimi, Universal Pictures) is a movie about a girl who is cursed by an old lady.

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a bank loan officer. Feeling like she is failing in her career prospects because of her friendly nature, she finally takes out her frustrations on a creepy old woman, Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), who is looking for another extension on her mortgage. Christine tells Mrs Ganush that she cannot give her an extension, and Mrs Ganush begs her to reconsider (like literally, on her knees). Christine has Mrs Ganush thrown off of the premises.

She later runs into Mrs Ganush again who attacks her and tells her she's cursed.

Then the crazy terror begins. In true Raimi style it's nuts and manic! And uh... gross. Brilliantly gross! And hilarious! Like a live action 'Tom and Jerry' cartoon if it had been written by Sam Raimi.

I think Alison Lohman does very well in the, how can I say it? - 'female Ash' role. Which it pretty much is; innocent person put into crazy situation, goes crazy, does crazy things.... it never ends well for them! She goes crazy in an entertaining way. And she's feisty, not the poor-me female lead... but hell does she scream! OK, she's no Bruce Campbell, but I find her performance most enjoyable.

The spirit torments poor Christine through the whole movie. She cannot find forgiveness from Ganush, as she is dead, and she simply appears mad to everyone around her, including her boyfriend Clay (Justin Long). Thankfully, she finds help from a fortune teller, Rham Jas (Dileep Lao), the only person who believes her. Jas convinces her to pay Shaun San Dena (Flor de Maria Chahua), the woman we see at the beginning of the movie who was unable to save a young cursed boy, $10,000 to save her.

There's some séance-ing along with some chanting of "I welcome the dead into my soul!" which reminds me of the deadite's chant in 'Evil Dead 2'; "I'll swallow your soul!"

Really fun, even if it is a bit odd; I mean, crazy old lady or not, surely someone explained what mortgaging your house meant to her?!

Anyway, I'd recommend for some gore, fantasy violence and shock value. And it's very loud!

[Picture: Universal Pictures]

Hani