Annabelle: Creation

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Lore & Background

The story begins with dollmaker Samuel Mullins and his wife Esther grieving the loss of their seven-year-old daughter Annabelle, nicknamed 'Bee', who dies when she is hit by a car while running to retrieve a ball. Twelve years later, the Mullins open their home to provide shelter for Sister Charlotte and six girls left homeless by the closing of their orphanage. Despite warnings to avoid Bee's locked bedroom, Janice, a young orphan disabled by polio, discovers a note saying 'Find me' and sneaks into the room. She finds a key for Bee's closet and opens it, where she finds an eerie porcelain doll, unwittingly releasing a powerful demon that begins to terrorize the girls. Esther later reveals that after Bee's death, they prayed to whatever entity would grant their wish to see their daughter again. An unknown entity answered, and though they briefly saw Bee's spirit, it convinced them to transfer its essence into one of Samuel's dolls. They agreed, but soon realized they had attracted a demon looking for a human host. One night, Esther saw Bee's spirit transforming into a demon, and when she tried to stop it, the demon gouged out her eye. Enlisting the help of priests to bless the house, the couple locked the doll in Bee's closet. Eventually, they opened their house as a shelter for orphan children to repent for their actions, unknowingly giving the demon a chance to look for a human host.

In Their Own Story

The demon, taking Bee's form, appears to Janice, saying it wants her soul. Although she attempts to get away using a stairlift, the demon recalls the stairlift and hurls her violently down to the ground floor, leaving her severely injured and using a wheelchair. With Janice now confined to the first floor, her best friend Linda, now having to sleep alone, is tormented by the demon. One morning, the demon, posing as Sister Charlotte, wheels Janice into the old barn, where, in the form of Bee, it attacks and possesses her. Linda notices changes in Janice's behavior and tells Samuel that Janice snuck into Bee's room and found the doll. Samuel immediately believes Linda and heads inside, where he comes across a possessed Janice, who is able to walk. Janice transforms and brutally kills Samuel, who follows her while holding a crucifix, forcing him to drop it by breaking his fingers. Outside, Sister Charlotte hears his screams and is horrified to find him dead. That night, Linda sneaks out and discards Janice's doll into the nearby well. A strange noise comes from the well, and she is almost dragged into it, but Sister Charlotte saves her. The demon then murders Esther and attacks Sister Charlotte. While the orphans leave the house, Linda is trapped and hides in Bee's room, but the possessed Janice finds and tries to kill her. Sister Charlotte arrives, locking Janice and the doll inside the closet, escaping the house. The next day, police arrive to search the house and only find the doll, which they remove as evidence. Janice, however, escapes through a hole in the closet wall and relocates to an orphanage in Santa Monica. Still possessed, she becomes reclusive and renames herself 'Annabelle'. A couple, Pete and Sharon Higgins, soon adopt her. Twelve years later, after being involved in devil worship, a grown-up Annabelle returns home and murders her adoptive parents at night, awakening neighbor Mia Form, who alerts her husband John of the Higgins's screams.

Reader's Guide

In October 2015, it was confirmed that an Annabelle sequel was in development. David F. Sandberg replaced Annabelle's John R. Leonetti as the sequel's director in March 2016. Sandberg was attracted to the project as it was a standalone film, which granted him more creative freedom, and the fact that it was a period piece made it more appealing to him. The first film's screenwriter, Gary Dauberman, returned to write the script, with Peter Safran and James Wan returning to produce. In March 2017, Sandberg revealed the film would be a prequel to the original Annabelle film, titled Annabelle: Creation. Sandberg drew references from the look of the 1963 psychological horror film The Haunting, due to its use of CinemaScope cinematography, and cited the score of The Shining as the biggest inspiration for the film's chilling music. He also borrowed inspiration from the 'old school' feel of The Conjuring. He decided he would rely upon tension and suspense as opposed to jump scares. Sandberg softened some of Annabelle's features to make her more believable as a child's toy, having the cheeks filled-out and fixing her overbite. He found shooting with the doll challenging since the object was immobile, and he needed to use other objects—such as a sheet—to make her move around. An exorcism expert, Father Robert, was a consultant on the film. Principal photography began on June 27, 2016, in Los Angeles, California, at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank lot, and concluded on August 15, 2016. The film received California film and television tax credits in the amount of $2.4 million after spending $17.4 million in the state. Sandberg decided to use Steadicam and tracking shots, because of the film's period setting, and he wanted to maintain the 'old school' feel of the first two The Conjuring films. According to Sandberg, he does not believe in ghosts or demonic entities, saying, 'I haven't experienced anything in life that would lead me to believe they exist'.

Did You Know?

• David F. Sandberg replaced John R. Leonetti as director after New Line Cinema was impressed by early cuts of his film Lights Out.
• The film received California film and television tax credits of $2.4 million after spending $17.4 million in the state.
• Anthony LaPaglia agreed to star after his 14-year-old daughter overheard him on the phone about the movie and responded enthusiastically.
• Sandberg drew inspiration from the 1963 film The Haunting for its CinemaScope cinematography and from the score of The Shining.
• An exorcism expert, Father Robert, was a consultant on the film.