It’s not bad, it’s just same old, same old.

If you’re a sucker for horror movies and follow the Conjuring series from the first part, then this movie is for you. Do not expect anything extraordinary – watch the film, get scared and come back.

One can’t help but feel that Sandberg did this film as a favor to do the DC Shazam movie. In any case he’s one of the most exciting new filmmakers out there but any studio that works with him needs to give him better writers to back his vision and passion. The only interesting aspect of this film is the post credits scene featuring Valak from Conjuring 2 – let’s hope he gets a better spin-off than this.

On the production front, director Sandberg along with production designer Jennifer Spence make great use of the eerily vast layout of the Mullins’ farmhouse just as director Wan did with the haunted home at the centre of “The Conjuring”. But it is clustered – Annabelle’s room, the barn, the well in the courtyard and the unexplained lift shaft in the farm house that is used as the focal area of action and are well-exploited.
Overall, the film is visually well-captured but the spirit is missing.