Before belonging to the Warrens, the famous hunters of occult forces, Annabelle was a normal doll given by John Form to his pregnant wife Mia. After being attacked in the middle of the night by an insane couple with a mysterious motive tied to a satanic cult, the Forms move to start a new life with their baby. But Mia soon realizes that the doll, behind her empty stare, hides a diabolical entity, waiting in the shadows to seize an innocent soul…

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It took only a little over a year after The Conjuring to make a spin-off about the evil doll Annabelle, presented as a prequel to the movie starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. In principal, this movie by John R. Leonetti, cinematographer on The Conjuring and Insidious, had no need of a new recipe to please its audience. Easy shocks, a classic rhythm, incidental characters, a moralizing ending: Annabelle is flat, unimaginative and formulaic, cynical even in its too-great confidence in its own machinery. Borrowed largely from Insidious – a sensitive mother, a threatened baby, a move and visions of horror that start with human apparitions before devolving into a demonic round of blood and thunder. In any case, Annabelle should be seen for what it is: simple entertainment that is completely effective and aimed at audiences looking for a gruesome thrill.