ANNABELLE
For years I had heard stories about Ed and Lorraine Warren. While I couldn’t have told you the countless investigations they’ve covered as a kid, I knew they were legendary in the world of the mysterious and the paranormal. Much of that brought in a little extra enthusiasm the first time that I saw James Wan’s excellent horror thriller, THE CONJURING. At the time, I was slightly familiar with the main haunting involving Roger and Carolyn Perron and her family. Yet this 2013 feature introduced me to Annabelle, a sweet little gal that I’d hadn’t found myself accustomed to.
Since the original film’s release, we’ve seen two ANNABELLE films. The first was a massive disappointment for a few reasons – aside from its impressive box office numbers. However, the second film was an amazing improvement. ANNABELLE: CREATION is a prequel that gets it right. The cast, including Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson and Samara Lee, were all fantastic. And of course, David F. Sandberg brought the scary with this suspenseful tale. In fact, the film was so well received and people still loved the doll, so of course we are going to get yet another chapter called ANNABELLE COMES HOME.
According to iMDB, the latest features both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as well as the very talented Mckenna Grace, and it has an expected release date of June 28th. It will be the feature film directorial debut of the very talented Gary Dauberman – someone very accustomed to the Conjuring Universe. I'm thrilled to see what he can do with this creepy play thing. With this, and the return of Chucky in a CHILD’S PLAY remake, I couldn’t help but think of some of the classic horror flicks that have dolls terrifying innocent victims. Perhaps, other than Annabelle herself, the one that sticks out the most is the 1975 TV movie that become a cult classic. Trilogy of Terror may not be perfect, but when that creepy ass tribal doll starts chasing Karen Black around, well you don’t get any better than that when it comes to scares in cinema.
All this scary doll talk got me thinking… what is the real story behind some of the creepy and possessed toys and collectibles people talk about. The subject came up during a chat session between Nick Groff and I. We talked about ANNABELLE, and I asked a few questions about his own experiences with creepy toys and the like… But it began with ANNABELLE and Hollywood’s take on hauntings and it ended with a quick discussion on his love of movies and his need to investigate strange happenings in our world.
“Movies have always indulged in hauntings and anything scary to frighten an audience. I personally love movies. Paranormal movies sometimes fall flat with the overall story or filmmaker producing it. The first “Annabelle” was one of those films that was tough to watch because it was so bad. I did find the second Annabelle film a lot better and I’m curious to see the third.
When I was 6 years old I slept over my grandparents house and my aunt would tell me if I hear a bell jingling it’s just an ancient doll that runs around at night. This scared me as I slept on the couch and tried to keep my eyes open long enough in case it ran near me. That stuck with me as I grew older. The human mind is very powerful and can create amazing things.
The idea of haunted objects or cursed items has always intrigued me. I’ve been in contact with a lot of objects which claimed to be haunted through my journey, and only once have I witnessed weird activity. I believe that an object can hold energy manifested by people who project their thoughts onto it. As humans living in a time based reality, we don’t have all the answers to what dwells beyond our world. That’s the mystery that intrigues me, especially phenomena that we can’t see but we feel and create theories about.
I’m opened minded to all sorts of possibilities but not everything is paranormal. Human’s sometimes take everything strange and just claim one thing about it, like ghost. There’s so much more to learn than just labeling certain bizarre events as one thing.
I will continue watching fictional movies and I will continue investigating the paranormal. Both get people talking and asking questions about the other side we still don’t understand.”