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The recently released prequel to The Conjuring tells the story of  Annabelle, the creepy, possessed doll before she was safely locked away in ghost hunter Ed and Lorraine Warren’s cabinet of unknowns. If you’re debating whether or not you should avoid another seemingly stupid horror movie involving an evil doll, my advice would be to shy away from this one. However, if you are willing to sit through a generic scary movie plot,  Annabelle is actually quite decent at raising the goose bumps, despite it’s lack of originality.

The story begins in the late 1960’s with a gift from John (Ward Horton) to his expectant wife Mia (Annabelle Wallis). “There’s something I want to give you,” he says. “Oh no,” she laughs, “the last time you did that I ended up pregnant.” He gives her Annabelle, a seemingly harmless vintage doll, decked out in a lace wedding dress. “She fits right in,” Mia squeals, adding the doll to her collection on the wall. It doesn’t take long before the quiet peace of John and Mia’s life is broken by a home invasion, and although they survive, strange things start happening after the attack. “Crazy people do crazy things ma’am,” explains a detective before everyone starts to realize that Annabelle has something to do with the weird things going on.

To put it bluntly,  Annabelle is like a Haunted House attraction at Halloween. There’s nothing that’s really, soul-chillingly scary inside. generally, what is seen in Annabelle is the same thing that has been seen from so many other horror films: creaking floors, creepy white-robed figures, home appliances that go off on their own, mysterious writing that shows up in mysterious places, etc.

Although this repetition can get boring, it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.  In The Conjuring, the creaking doors, possessed closets and white robed figures still had the ability to scare us. However, Annabelle‘s plot isn’t interesting enough to make the old cliches  effective.  This movie is part psychological drama– part Paranormal Activity and is filled with a good eerie atmosphere, but where its predecessor had the benefit of two strong leads in Vera Farminga and Patrick Wilson, Annabelle’s stars, Wallis and Horton, aren’t very compelling. More interesting leads might have made the audience care more about the story, but the movie is still capable of giving you a few good jolts.

Despite the predictability of this film, if you enjoy sitting curled up in a ball half covering your eyes and ears, this movie is for you. Watch it in theater, as half of the scare factor is in the loud surround sound and huge screen that make you feel all too close to the menacing events.