'Annabelle: Creation' Provides Different Origin Story for the Evil Doll, Sets Stage for 'Conjuring' Spinoff 'The Nun'
"Annabelle: Creation," the sequel to the first "Annabelle" movie, is now showing in theaters and intends to expand the "Conjuring" franchise. Unlike most movies, this one has some post-credit scenes that shed light on the story's baffling narrative but also confuses its audience at the same time.
After the original film made it big at the global box office but was poorly received by critics, director David. F. Sandberg stepped up his game by trying to explore the origins of the evil doll and delivering real scares. The sequel is packed with new details about Annabelle and introduces new connections with "The Conjuring" films while setting the stage for the next spinoff, "The Nun."
Although "Annabelle: Creation" is currently performing well in theaters, some people criticized it for making the bigger "Conjuring" narrative all the more confusing. One problem noted about this film is its inconsistency when it talked about how the evil doll came to be.
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In the original "Annabelle" film, the doll, which was a gift that John gave to his expectant wife Mia, was possessed by the spirit of their neighbors' daughter. The latter had killed her parents - the Higgins - and afterwards attacked John and Mia in their home when the couple reported and tried to stop their neighbors' murder. The daughter's accomplice - her boyfriend - was killed by responding police while she slit her own throat and spilled blood on the doll.
In "Annabelle: Creation," however, the evil doll was owned by doll maker Samuel Mullins and his wife Esther, who lost their daughter in an accident and asked the devil to bring back their daughter in whatever form. A demon who appeared in the guise of Samuel's daughter eventually possessed the doll. However, it was revealed that the doll was only the evil spirit's way to gain access to actual human beings in order to possess one. When Samuel and his wife opened their home to orphans, the spirit controlling the doll transferred to a polio-stricken orphan named Janice.
In the epilogue for the film, the director attempted to weave "Annabelle: Creation" into the "Conjuring" universe by showing the possessed Janice masquerading as Annabelle, now without polio. She appeared in an orphanage in California, where she was adopted by Sharon Higgins and her husband. It was in the Higgins' home that the audiences saw photos of Annabelle over the years, until the time she killed her parents in Santa Monica in 1969.
While the epilogue provided a fitting explanation to the source of the Annabelle doll's evil power, critics noted how it only convoluted the entire narrative, especially when it came to Janice becoming Annabelle Higgins, and how the latter met her end in the home of a couple who now own the doll the demon was originally in.
On a different note, "Annabelle: Creation" is praised for how it sets up its connection with the upcoming "Conjuring" spinoff "The Nun," which will focus on the evil nun from "The Conjuring 2," Valak. The said spinoff will arrive next summer.
