ANNABELLEBy Demmy Abimbola

John Form has found the perfect gift for his expecting wife, Mia - a beautiful, rare vintage doll in a pure white wedding dress. But Mia's delight with Annabelle doesn't last long. On one horrific night, their home is invaded by members of a satanic cult, who violently attack the couple. Spilled blood and terror are not all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity known as... Annabelle.

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Horror Thriller-Horror film is a genre that aims to create a sense of fear, panic, alarm, and dread for the audience. These films are often unsettling and rely on scaring the audience through a portrayal of their worst fears and nightmares. Horror films usually centre on the arrival of an evil force, person, or event. Many Horror films include mythical creatures such as ghosts, vampires, and zombies. Traditionally, Horror films incorporate a large amount of violence and gore into the plot. Though it has its own style, Horror film often overlaps into Fantasy, Thriller, and Science-Fiction genres. Annabelle is a horror thriller as it follows the stereotypical format of horror movies . In the movie you have the stereotypical antagonist- in this case is a demonic doll and you have they protagonist- which in most movies is the “innocent last girl”, who is not suppose to last long but starts to grow in strength and in the end survives. In this movie Mia (lead role) fits this stereotype and is pregnant, weak and injured when she gets stabbed in the stomach and is scared when the demon seems to be following her around. Psychological Thriller-Psychological thriller is a fictional thriller story which emphasizes the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states. Typically in a psychological thriller, the characters are exposed to danger on a mental level rather that a physical one. In Annabelle this is shown, when the lead woman Mia is being tormented throughout the movie and when she tries to explain what is occurring people do not believe her.

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Motifs in Annabelle- In Annabelle there are plenty of motifs- recurring items or themes which help tie a movie together, which are used to enhanced the movie, such as lighting, camera angles, spacing, settings, sounds, props etc.. Lighting-In Annabelle the lighting used, creates a big impact in the movie, for instance in the scene where the lead woman- Mia, is in the basement then she hears a baby crying the lighting used is directly in the middle of the ceiling creating shadows as she walks down the narrow hall. Also the lighting creates a spooky atmosphere in the elevator scene when she is trying to run away from the demon and the light starts flashing in the elevator, this effect causes the viewer to become tense and very aware of there surroundings.Also when the demon is chasing after her as she is running up the stairs of her apartment and then the lights darken which leaves the feeling of suspense but then the light flashes on for a brief moment and we see the face of the demon which makes everyone scared.

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Sound-In Annabelle the sound is another important aspect of the movie, because in several parts of the movie where the Mia is running or she suspects something surrounding her the music becomes very thick and slow, and in some scenes the music speeds up, for example when she was running from the demon in the basement the music, but once she enters the elevator the soothing elevator music starts to play which is ironic considering she is being chased by a demonic entity. Colours-In Annabelle the colours used through the movie are also coordinated to add to the movies scary atmosphere. For instance through out the movie dark and pale colours are used. It could be because of the nature of the horror film or the fact that it was set in 1969. Even down to the costume, Mia was always dressed in pale and dull colours, even when she wore blue or yellow they were very pale, again I believe to add to the tense atmosphere of the film.

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Last GirlIn Annabelle Mia was the last girl, typically in horror movies there is always a final girl, it refers to the last woman alive to confront the killer, basically the last one left to tell the story. The final girl aspect in movies is typically the same because it refers to a girl being tormented psychologically throughout the movie and no one believing her, and that’s what's happens in Annabelle to Mia, she knew that she was being tormented but she didn’t think her that her husband will believe her.

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