 The Conjuring was a solid horror film that garnered a lot of success, so naturally Hollywood's gonna ride that money train right into the ground with a series of prequels and sequels. Today I feud two of them with The Conjuring 2 versus Annabelle Creation on Movie Feuds. Plus for a multitude of reasons, with the primary one being the Warrens. These two demon fighters get an expanded role this time around, which made me very happy. Although it was a bit disheartening to see Lorraine a bit more beaten down this time around. I missed her confidence and insight. Here she is shaken up for a majority of the picture and doesn't really bring much to the table. It makes sense in the context of the story, but this is only the second time we're seeing her in action, so I was hoping she'd still be a bit more put together. On the other end of the spectrum is her husband Ned, who is more confident than ever, and not even the prospect of death phases him. The rest of the cast holds their own as well, with Madison Wolf really putting in an impressive performance as Janet Hodgson. And just like the first Audi and Conjuring 2 does a great job balancing the scares with the more intimate family moments. We get some time with the family in a happy environment, and we grow a little bit of a connection with them. I was legitimately concerned for their well-being, and it's a hell of a lot more than I can say for those of Ana-fail creation, right? Uh-oh, Adam, does this mean you didn't like that Annabelle movie either? That's correct, Chris. And you notice I will call the person watching Chris. It's one of the ways that I stand out from the YouTube crowd. I personalize. I reach out to individuals that watch the show from time to time. It's why this show's so amazing. It's why I'm such a well-respected reviewer. I'm also incredibly humble. Annabelle Cremation focuses on a small group of orphan girls as they familiarize themselves with their new digs. A dilapidated country home featuring Anthony LaPaglia as the owner Samuel Mullins and his wife, Phantom of the Opera, played by Witch King Slayer Miranda Otto. That was a Lord of the Rings reference. This is a movie channel. The main protagonist is a young girl named Janice, played by Talitha Bateman. I'm probably pronouncing that name wrong. Don't worry, the diehard fans of hers will make a comment like, you ignorant ass. Her name is pronounced Talladega Batman. Get your facts straight. Her best friend Linda is played by Lulu Wilson and she looks exactly like a young version of Alexis Bladel, aka Rory Gilmore. Quiston, could we put up some comparison photos please? If you're not too busy with your fidget spinner. Do some actual work on this show. Stupid piece of shit. Look at this. Look at these shots. It's the same person. My wife didn't agree. We spent a majority of the runtime arguing about it. It's not like we could have saved $20 and just stayed at home and fought. I didn't really give a shit about those dumb girls and the teenagers were just mean for no reason. Apparently being a bitch to an orphaned and disabled girl was all the rage in the 70s for teenagers. I was hoping the writers crafted the girls this way so that the audience could cheer when they were viciously murdered. I'm not going to spoil anything since this film's still fresh, but I was disappointed. But how are the Spooks this time around, Adam? Great question, John. They're not good. The Conjuring has an old, cromogeny ghost, a bizarre nightmare before Christmas-esque crooked man, and an evil nun cosplaying as Marilyn Manson circa 2004. Lest we forget. I mean, points for creativity, but none of it shrunk my balls in fear. Annabelle Eurination brings back that doll we love to not even try to bother killing. She does creative new things such as sit in a chair, rock in a chair, sit on the floor, stand up. She does at one point put on a sheet to recreate every poor kid's Halloween costume, but that's about it. The demon is at least creepier this time around, appearing as that old school devil type, a lame scarecrow and an old lady with varying degrees of success. Oh, that's odd. There was a note that mysteriously appeared here with crayon on it that says move on to story. That was a callback to Annabelle. This is a movie channel. Annabelle creation is the prequel to Annabelle, which is the prequel to the Conjuring. I hope the next one's called Annabelle Insinuation takes place in the 40s following a young Samuel Mullins as he comes up with the idea of creating the doll. Does that seem entirely pointless? Well, it should because it is. And that's what I thought after watching this film. Original Annabelle is killed at a young age after not looking both ways before crossing the dirt road. The parents pray to see her again, but since God is a prick, they're pleased go unnoticed. So instead of chalking it up to bad luck, they do the obvious and take up the dark arts, reaching out to the devil himself. It seems like a pretty significant plot point that was just kind of glossed over. I feel like the audience really should have witnessed this event. They use the doll the father crafted as a vessel for their child. But what the devil offers up is not what they ordered. A demon takes shape and the parents have no other option but to close the doll up in a little closet with Bible verses. It's actually how I sleep every night. I have no idea how this whole vessel thing works out as the demon rarely ever uses Annabelle horror movies don't often make a lick of sense, but not having goals or even some sort of rule book to apply to the film just leaves the audience kind of dead inside watching as horror scenes unfold with very little consequence or reaction because you don't even know what you're supposed to be looking for. Oh, the demon can kill people now. Couldn't before. What exactly is it trying to accomplish? I don't know. The Conjuring 2 is once again based on a true story, but it doesn't have the same feel as the original, opting to go a very different route, one that eventually paid off for me. But the first two acts were pretty slow. And I think a shorter runtime would have helped. The Warrens are investigating a supposed haunting in London where a spirit is giving a family of four a pretty rough go at it. I say supposed because the Warrens are not fully convinced the residents are truly being haunted or if they are making it up for publicity purposes. It's an interesting premise, but I wish writers Kerry and Chad Hayes would have given us the perspective from the Warrens instead of letting us in on the secret. We know the families legitimately being messed with because we see all these events unfold. So instead of having us unravel the mystery together, we're left patiently waiting for our investigators to catch up. There is however a great final twist I didn't even think about to see coming. I'm not going to spoil it here as this movie is not that old. I don't want to take that from you. The biggest deal breaker for me when watching horror films is the the way the people act in situations they're in. Obviously they're not thinking clearly, but there's a fine line between rational, irrational and then just outright retarded. And Annabelle is full of the the latter. There is a scene in a dimly lit barn later in the film where a teenage girl is being attacked by a demon scarecrow. She has a few options that would make sense for me. Option A, run away. Try to find an opening in a window or a door you can pull on to your heart's content. B, find a place to hide. Probably can't hide from a demon or an evil spirit, but hey, it's worth a shot. That's maybe the more irrational side of things, but still make sense considering what's happening. C, yell for help? I mean, nobody ever does that in this movie or hardly ever. And even when they do, nobody listens. They could be three feet away. They don't hear the screams of a seven year old girl in the other room. They're just sleeping. They're just having a great little dream. Option D, confront the demon. Try to fight it. Grab a pitchfork or something in the barn. I mean, what other option do you have at this point? At least go down swinging. The movie instead goes for option Z. Find a ladder in the barn after almost all the lights are blown out by this demon who's intentionally unscrewing them and breaking them. Put the ladder down, climb the ladder as it's pursuing you and try to fucking spin the light bulb back in. Are you out of your mind? Whole thing's idiotic and I will have none of that in my horror film. Let's move on. Joseph Bashar is back composing the Conjuring too, but the real standout moment doesn't come from him. It comes from Patrick Wilson performing Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love. It's one of my favorite character moments in the flick and it was completely unexpected. There are some good period piece songs too, such as London's Calling, I Started a Joke, and every good horror film has an nursery rhyme. This time it's The Old Man, appropriately enough. Annabelle Vacation has a couple songs early on that play off the 1950s setting. The film looks a hell of a lot better than the last one did too. Helps that the budget was more than doubled to 15 million and the director was swapped for someone a bit stronger behind the lens. Granted, this is only David F. Sandberg's second big screen feature. He has shown he's more than competent to handle the material. I actually like the look of this more than Conjuring too, which is a damn shame because the first Conjuring was so pretty to look at. It was just visually intense. I was really surprised to see that James Wan directed again. There was almost too much polish to everything. It didn't have the creepy, low budget, gritty vibe the first did. Some of the effects don't mesh well either, such as the aforementioned Crooked Man stuff. It was just silly and pretty pointless. And I believe that character is also getting a spin-off film. Crooked Man, Clarification. It's not what it's called, I really do think there is gonna be one. There are plenty of shots that do work, such as a fantastic pan of the crosses being flipped or random objects being moved or thrown. Let's conclude. Well, I do think creation is better than the first Stoutie and it's still a failure in my eyes. I had no connection to any of the cast and the nonsensical plot kept me confused. The Conjuring too misses the mark in a few spots, but I think it's still overall a very entertaining picture. And I left the movie excited for more stories in the world. Let me know what you thought in the comments, vote for your winner and remember, this is more than just reviews, this is movie feuds. Oh, shit. Oh, it's just Marilyn Manson. Jesus Christ! Thanks for watching the video. Feel free to check me out on social media platforms for credibility purposes. Intern Sheila should be putting up some graphics for you to digest, I believe. Otherwise, you'll be out on the curb like your mom. Gotta move on. You can also check me out on patreon.com slash adam does movies. Throw me a buck or two if you want. I run this channel alone. It's almost a full-time job, honestly. Thanks for your time. Sheila, the graphics now.