Annabelle

"The scares are cheap but periodically effective."

"Laughworthy bumps in the night, creaky rocking chairs, a demon-infested basement and more gliding baby carriages than an '80s De Palma film."

"Mr. Leonetti embraces the potential of negative space."

"There's real craftsmanship to the film, but it's in service of a story that can't quite support it."

"A grab bag of set pieces, red herrings and familiar occult tropes that never add up to much."

"Ultimately so generic and formulaic that you'll probably forget it by the time you get home."

"Racks up a respectable number of genuine scares."

"A couple of good jumps but this Conjuring spin-off is led down by poor writing, anodyne leads and an overwhelming sense of familiarity."