For the prequel to a spinoff-prequel, in theory, this film really shouldn’t be good, but somehow it manages to defy what past ventures have taught us, and provide an effective, if entirely conventional, set of scares.

Set in the home of a toymaker (the one who made Annabelle, of course), years after his young daughter was killed in an accident, a group of orphans take up residence in his home with him, his ill wife, and their nun guardian. After one of the girls, of course, enters the forbidden former bedroom of the daughter…strange happenings start to occur.

This is a film entirely constructed by convention. You can guess what is going to happen at pretty much every point, and, as usual, will be irritated by the stupid decisions of characters. You can even tell exactly what’s going to happen by the camera placement, and even know when a fake-out jump is coming. However, as long as you give yourself over to the clichés and conventions, they are executed well enough to provide some pretty good scares. Even when you know a jump is coming, it will still get you.

As far as the origins of Annabelle go, that story takes up a mere few minutes of the run time, making this just another romp around in the creepy-doll genre. The plot itself is threadbare and holey, and it eventually just becomes a bunch of scares one after another, without much tying them together. The actors are good enough to hold up some sort of investment in the story, with the more interesting moments coming from the conflicted and grieving parents, who are perhaps left out too much for their potential.

Overall, this brings nothing new to the genre, and isn’t close to the quality of the main films in The Conjuring franchise, but it is executed well enough to provide a pretty scary couple of hours. And put you off china dolls for life.