5 terrifying reasons to watch "Annabelle: Creation"

Writer: Casey Chong

A scene from "Annabelle: Creation".

When "Annabelle" arrived in 2014, the first "Conjuring" spinoff was greeted with terribly mixed reviews, but thanks to its economical budget, "Annabelle" still proved to be financially profitable enough to warrant a follow-up.

Now, here comes "Annabelle: Creation", a prequel which set to haunt our local cinemas nationwide this week!

To coincide with the upcoming release, here are the five reasons justifying why "Annabelle: Creation" should be on your watchlist.

Director David F. Sandberg on the set of "Annabelle: Creation".

No offense to John R. Leonetti, the original director who made the first "Annabelle", as he was better off as a cinematographer who did a great job in lensing James Wan's "The Conjuring" (2013). In this prequel, the studio (Warner Bros.) made a right choice enlisting David F. Sandberg as the new director. If his name sounds somewhat familiar to you, he was the guy who brought you "Lights Out". Based on Sandberg's own 2013 short film of the same name, the 2016 low-budget horror feature was a sizable hit both critically and financially.

Talitha Bateman in a scene from "Annabelle: Creation".

At the time of writing, "Annabelle: Creation" has already received overwhelmingly positive reviews when it premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival two months ago in June. Based on current reviews from critics who have watched it, the prequel has scored a full 100% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Sure, it may drop when more reviews pile up once "Annabelle: Creation" approaches closer to the release date, but then again, it is a rare sight to see a supernatural horror movie like "Annabelle: Creation" obtain such a good word of mouth. After all, the horror genre especially those from Hollywood is traditionally an easy target (read: bashing) for most critics.

Miranda Otto in a scene from "Annabelle: Creation".

Let's face it. August is traditionally a dumping ground (read: movies that receive poor test screening or a lack thereof) for most new Hollywood releases. But not so for "Annabelle: Creation". With the help of an increasingly strong buzz following positive response from many critics (as mentioned in No. 2 above), expect the prequel to rake a "Conjuring"-sized success when it hits the cinema this month.

A scene from "Annabelle: Creation".

If there is one thing praiseworthy about David F. Sandberg, he has a knack for delivering well-crafted jump scares in his movie. This, of course, was evidently seen in "Lights Out". Now, with "Annabelle: Creation", the acclaimed Swedish director will be using the same technique to scare his viewers. Suffice to say, this is going to be a frightening cinematic experience watching the prequel on the big screen.

One of the creepy scenes in "Annabelle: Creation".

Like the first "Annabelle", the upcoming prequel is also part of "The Conjuring" shared universe. So, unless you hate the supernatural horror genre or a movie about an evil doll, chances are you can't afford to miss the prequel. Besides, the filmmaker behind "Annabelle: Creation" has gone as far as building bridges and continuity between the original "Annabelle" and the first two "Conjuring" movies, along with the currently in-development spinoff of "The Nun". To make things even more interesting, it was recently confirmed that there will be two post-credit scenes attached to "Annabelle: Creation".