The Conjuring has to be one of the biggest surprises in recent horror film history. Smart and scary, it built it scares first and foremost on the atmosphere and tone it set. The Conjuring holds up very well on repeat viewings, that I think it'll stand the test of time. Even The Conjuring 2, which is not as frightening as the first, is still an effective horror film. Like all successful things, The Conjuring has now fashioned itself a shared universe. One that is killing all good will of what James Wan built in the first place. It gives me great joy to say Annabelle: Creation is much better than its predecessor, but it's still an infuriating movie.

Set before the previous film, Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia), a dollmaker, and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) suffer a tragic event. Twelve years later, the two decide to open their home to orphaned girls and the nun that watches over them. However, once the girls are threatened once the possessed Annabelle doll is discovered unleashing terror into what was supposed to be a safe haven into a living nightmare.

One thing that drives me up the wall is dumb characters, and Annabelle: Creation is full of them. Almost the entire running time, I wanted to bash my head against the auditorium wall as these characters make the most asinine decisions. Making it worst is that almost all of the characters are unlikeable with the exception of little Lulu Wilson as Linda who is the standout character despite her also making very dumb choices. The worst, however, is polio stricken Janis (Talitha Bateman) who is depressed by her situation. And that's one I truly can sympathize with until she makes so many selfish mistakes that had my audience in a near uproar. Look, I don't like talking or texting in films either, but when a horror movie is this dumb, seeing it with a riled up audience is the perfect catharsis for a movie whose whole plot and runtime hinge on dumb characters doing dumb things for the sake of moving the plot along. That also includes the classic trope of two characters withholding information till it's too late cliche that I thought we had moved on from.

I had no expectations going in but what's disappointing is that this is what David F. Sandberg chose to this to follow up his debut from last year Lights Out. Lights Out had characters that I liked making smart choices with genuine thrills and cool tricks playing with lights of all types in the darkness. Sandberg is the positive of this movie as he manages to get good performances from his cast despite the material as well as it being well directed and well shot which is what the last Annabelle movie was lacking. What drags this down as well as the last Annabelle is the over reliance on jump scares instead of building tension and atmosphere like The Conjuring films did. With that said the jump scares are much more effective here than they were in the last film. Despite this, screenwriter Gary Dauberman, who wrote the previous film as well, is inept and seeing his name on the upcoming It which looks promising deflates all enthusiasm I had for that film as well.

Dauberman is set to also write another spin-off that was the scariest aspect of The Conjuring 2. In fact, that entity pops up a few times and the first time it does, it's the scariest moment of the film as it's so unexpected and really, the most effective way of setting up that spin-off. But, its other two appearances made no sense within the context of the story which is a shame as its first appearance is so well done in terms of storytelling and scares, that it's so disappointing. And that's the overall problem with these spin-offs and shared universe. I left asking myself, just like I asked myself after the previous film, what was the point? These spin-offs seem like quick cash grabs in between Conjuring films, that it feels like it's killing off all good will I have towards this franchise. One of the main factors in what makes those Conjuring films scary is that they're based on true events and the case files of The Warrens. When you have horribly written scripts that feel like fan fiction, you start to question the whole enterprise.

With summer winding down and still quality movies playing, it makes it hard for me to recommend Annabelle: Creation as you might wanna get in one last vacation or concert or beach trip. You could watch this HBO and miss nothing. Even more so as the actual Annabelle doll does nothing except reappear in places or turn its head. Sure, this was one of the better press screenings I've attended as the audience collectively vented our frustrations with what was transpiring, but that is not worth a full price ticket. There are literally nine other movies I could recommend seeing large and loud in Annabelle: Creation's stead.

Now that James Wan and David F. Sandberg are both busy with the DCEU, I would hope WB would wait till at least one of them is finished so we don't squander The Conjuring 3 lest this whole franchise sinks into a pile of manure. Hollywood's finding out the hard way that sometimes shared universes are a bad idea.