Editorials
[SXSW] We Saw Some of ‘Annabelle 2’, Which Focuses on Mood and Atmosphere
It’s no secret that Annabelle, John R. Leonetti’s 2014 spinoff of The Conjuring, wasn’t exactly the best horror offering of the year. No one was really asking for a sequel, but a domestic haul of $84 million(!) said otherwise. It would be fair to say that expectations for the film were pretty low, at least until Lights Out director David F. Sandberg was announced as the director of Annabelle 2. This isn’t the first time that a talented horror director has been tasked with directing the sequel of a poorly-received horror film, and it certainly won’t be the last.
In an effort to convince skeptical audiences that his film will be an improvement over its predecessor, Sandberg took part in the “Face Your Fears” filmmaker discussion at the SXSW Conference and Festivals in Austin, Texas. At the panel, Sandberg and It director Andrés Muschietti treated attendees to an exclusive sneak peak of their respective films. Was Bloody Disgusting there to view the footage? You bet we were! Here are our thoughts on the two scenes that Sandberg elected to show us.
Related Article: We’ve Seen Footage from Stephen King’s It!
The time period that Annabelle 2 takes place in was not mentioned, but like Ouija: Origin of Evil, it seems like this may be a prequel that chronicles the origin of the titular doll. The plot of the film centers around a dollmaker and his wife who, after the death of their little girl, welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.
***SPOILERS TO FOLLOW***
In the first scene that was shown:
Janice (Talitha Bateman), who must walk using a forearm crutch, is hears music coming from a record player in a room that belongs to the dollmaker’s daugher. Sitting on the dead girl’s bed is the Annabelle doll. She goes to turn off the record player when another girl (Ouija: Origin of Evil’s Lulu Wilson) walks in and surprises her. The girls argue for a bit because they’re not supposed to be in the room, and then they get into a skirmish. One of them picks up a toy gun and fires a ping pong-type ball at Annabelle’s head. After arguing for a bit more they notice that Annabelle’s head has suddenly turned to face them. This scares Wilson’s character and she leaves Janice alone in the room with the doll.
After looking around a bit longer, Janice finds a diary with about three or four pages filled out. She flips though the remaining blank pages until she comes across a page with the words “Today I came home” scrawled on it. At that moment the door shuts by itself, frightening Janice. Eventually, two puppets appear in a toy puppet theater and begin moving by themselves. Janice grabs one of the puppets only to see that there is no one actually operating the puppets.
Janice then notices a young girl standing at the window, looking out into the yard while tapping the glass. Still facing the window, the girl (who is clearly the dollmaker’s deceased daughter) asks Janice if she can help her. Rather than immediately run out of the room, Janice asks the girl what she needs. Then, in a very effective jump scare, the girl goes full Bilbo Baggins and turns around to reveal a demonic face before screaming in a much deeper voice “Your soul!” Janice, finally wising up, attempts to run out of the room on her crutches. The door slams on her, but she manages to open it up and make it to the hall. All of the doors in the hall slam shut on her and she limps over to the stairs. She lifts herself into the lift chair and straps herself and flips the switch.
The chair doesn’t work initially, and she repeatedly flips the switch for a few torturous seconds as the door to the bedroom opens up and some black tendrils snake their way out into the hall. Finally, the chair starts working and begins its slow descent down the stairs. (I should point out that this moment in the scene is a very effective moment of suspense.) The chair makes it about two thirds of the way down the stairs before it stops and begins slowly ascending the rail. She sees the little girl glaring at her from the top, but once the chair reaches the top she is nowhere to be seen. Janice is then lifted out of her chair and thrown to the floor below.
In the second scene that was shown:
Janice is outside, but in a wheelchair thanks to her incident in the previous scene. She seems nervous, but the dollkeeper’s wife calms her down and tells her to enjoy the fresh air. The woman leaves her outside to relax. Suddenly another woman (her face remains off-screen) grabs Janice’s wheelchair and begins pushing it towards a barn (fun fact: we learned that this is the “rape barn” from HBO’s Westworld). Janice is shoved inside the barn and thrown off the chair.
She looks around the barn and crawls under some floorboards, where she begins to hear someone walking above her. She then looks off to the side and sees the girl that attacked her before crawling on the ground (think the game of hide-and-seek from The Visit) towards her. The girl attacks Janice, mounts her and then vomits a bunch of black goo into her mouth.
I’m fully aware that a reading a description of a scene isn’t really fun for you guys (and it certainly doesn’t do the footage justice), but until the studio releases the footage online there’s not much else we can do. I can tell you that there does seem to be a bigger emphasis on mood and atmosphere in this film. There are some jump scares, but they were handled well. The footage didn’t blow me away, but it was solid, which at least gives me hope for the sequel (prequel?).
Annabelle 2 will be released nationwide on August 11, 2017.
No conversation about cartoons based on live-action movies is ever complete without mentioning The Real Ghostbusters.
This animated continuation is, warts and all, a notable example of turning a hit movie into a hit series. And although the new target demographic skewed a little younger, even kids-at-heart could partake in the further adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore and Egon Spengler.
For a good part of its run, the show required fans to wait at least a week for more Ghostbustin’. That’s torture for a kiddo. Luckily, though, the entire series, or at least most of it, is now available for streaming.
So, as you revisit The Real Ghostbusters on Tubi—for now it’s just the first five seasons there—use this guide to help prioritize some must-see episodes.
The Boogieman Cometh
“The Boogieman Cometh” (Season 1)
Season One’s “The Boogieman Cometh” is a classic episode featuring one of the show’s more iconic villains. It’s hard to forget the unique character design used for the Boogieman (whose creepy voice was provided by Ray and Slimer’s actor, Frank Welker). In this story, Egon is reunited with that bump-in-the-night entity who haunted his own childhood, all while trying to keep him away from his latest targets: the brother and sister claiming to have the Boogieman in their closet. Although the Ghostbusters do save the day here, the Boogieman eventually returns (“The Bogeyman Is Back“). That same episode also features the love-’em-or-hate-’em Junior Ghostbusters.
Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream
“Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” (Season 1)
You could say the namesake of “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” had good intentions for putting mankind to sleep for the next few centuries—he wanted to end war and keep everyone dreaming. Sounds nice until you remember that whole free will business. But when it seems like the Ghostbusters have lost to their latest foe, the last one standing, Winston, gains a sudden ally. Janine’s dream of becoming a Ghostbuster is manifested, and she helps put this rogue spirit to bed.
When Halloween Was Forever
“When Halloween Was Forever” (Season 1)
Before the show’s execs capitalized on Slimer’s popularity by making him the focus of later episodes, early stories like “When Halloween Was Forever” better utilized that gooey ghost. Here, the spirit of Halloween itself, Samhain, hopes to make the holiday a permanent thing by stopping time. And who does the embodiment of All Hallows’ Eve use in his nefarious plot? Slimer, of course. Thankfully, the lil’ green bud knows where he really belongs, and Samhain is banished (at least until Season 3’s “Halloween II 1/2“).
Night Game
“Night Game” (Season 2)
Because Season Two was rather long, in comparison to other seasons, it accumulated quite a few solid episodes. One of the most beloved, though, is that ultimate good-versus-evil story, “Night Game“. Winston gets to shine here as he participates in a battle that was 500 years in the making. Except this time, the fighting is done on the baseball field. The other-dimensional settings in The Real Ghostbusters are always great, but the one here is particularly memorable.
Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin
“Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” (Season 2)
Not all ghosts and whatnot were bad in The Real Ghostbusters. As “Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” showed, some were actually benevolent. Sadly, it took a lot of convincing, and one very heroic act, for Peter and the others to see past this goblin’s grotesque appearance. The heroes find more than one shapeshifter at a sideshow carnival in the Poconos; a sinister Class-4er called the Metamorph does a swell job of menacing the Ghostbusters before they finally realize Drool’s not their culprit. The good guys indeed win here, but that victory is a bittersweet one.
The Collect Call of Cathulhu
“The Collect Call of Cathulhu” (Season 2)
While “The Collect Call of Cathulhu” does misspell “Cthulhu” in the title (probably to avoid legal issues), it is clearly the Old One in this Lovecraft-inspired episode. The story kicks off with the Necronomicon being stolen by the deity’s modern-day cult, who then raise their ancient god at Coney Island. From there, the Ghostbusters’ typical methods don’t work on the big guy, so they seek advice from an old issue of Weird Tales (or “Wierd Tales”, as it’s spelled on screen). That build-up to the finale comes with a decent amount of dread before the Ghostbusters, as well as a scholar named Alice, face off with one of the show’s most powerful entities.
Knock, Knock
“Knock, Knock” (Season 2)
A number of Real Ghostbusters episodes could be reworked into big-screen features, but perhaps “Knock, Knock” is the most hopeful. It helps that this story feels in step with the first two movies. Here, some ignorant construction workers accidentally uncover and open an ancient door in the subway. What’s behind said door is none other than those unspeakable evils that only the Ghostbusters can quell. A good deal of the imagery here is prime for adaptation.
The Grundel
“The Grundel” (Season 3)
One of the darker episodes, which was written by the prominent J. Michael Straczynski, is “The Grundel“. Here, a boy is being influenced by the titular entity, a type of ghost who ultimately turns his targets into new Grundels. The episode does have something of an after-school special quality to it, but that doesn’t take away from the eerier moments. For more Grundel lore, be sure to check out the episode “Grundelesque” from the sequel series, Extreme Ghostbusters.
Standing Room Only
“Standing Room Only” (Season 4)
It’s no secret that The Real Ghostbusters experienced multiple changes after the second season. Out of all of them, though, retooling the show so that Slimer would get more of the spotlight is maybe the most egregious. Thankfully, Season Four (the first to be called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters) didn’t completely obey that new directive; episodes like “Standing Room Only” felt more like the old days. The focus here was on the well-being of the city and its people, rather than on the series’ green mascot (or the Junior Ghostbusters). In the episode, Peter’s new ghost attractor isn’t to blame for the ensuing chaos; the ghost-eating Mee-Krah is what’s really imperiling everyone. And the Ghostbusters must dish out everything they have to avoid a doomsday situation.
The Halloween Door
“The Halloween Door” (Season 5)
While many fans will skip the later seasons in their rewatches, episodes like “The Halloween Door” are still worth checking out. This colorful helping of Halloween pandemonium premiered on primetime, so the animation is better than usual. And save for a random musical moment, it’s an enjoyable event. Here, a group of anti-Halloweeners tries to cancel the holiday, but they only end up making things worse by unleashing a baddie named Boogaloo.
The first five seasons of The Real Ghostbusters are available on Tubi, starting on July 15.
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