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When you hear that the new horror movie 鈥淎nnabelle鈥� centers on a scary doll, you may be thinking you鈥檝e seen this story before.聽

鈥淲e made a conscious decision that this was not a 鈥楥hucky鈥� movie,鈥� director John Leonetti told . 鈥淵ou never see her move on her own. She ends up in different places and you don't know how she got there.鈥澛�

Moviegoers who saw 鈥淭he Conjuring,鈥� the hit 2013 horror movie that centered on real-life paranormal experts Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren, already know the story of Annabelle. The beginning of the movie had the doll come into the possession (no pun intended) of the Warrens after it apparently caused strange occurrences. The couple puts the doll in a room filled with other objects that people say are haunted.聽

鈥淎nnabelle,鈥� which is now in theaters, takes place before 鈥淭he Conjuring鈥� and focuses on John (Ward Horton) and Mia (Annabelle Wallis) Gordon, who are expecting a baby and who bring the doll into their home. It co-stars Alfre Woodard.

Is 鈥淎nnabelle鈥� a good choice if you鈥檙e looking for a Halloween scare? So far the film has not gotten a positive reception from critics 鈥� it currently holds a score of 40 out of 100 on the review aggregator website . (By contrast, 鈥淭he Conjuring鈥� has a score of 68.)

Inkoo Kang of praised the film more than most, writing that 鈥渁 sheen of glamour and a stab at real drama distinguish this persistently spooky tale鈥� none of these scare tactics are remotely original, and yet they're wholly effective鈥� Wallis [has a] warm, inquisitive presence.鈥�

And critic Robert Abele called the movie 鈥渕odestly hair-raising鈥� but wrote that 鈥淟eonetti鈥� loves the spooky stuff but isn鈥檛 great with actors鈥� it lacks the exhilarating pull of 鈥楾he Conjuring,鈥� but as a side dish of demon-doll supernatural, it suffices.鈥�

However, the 鈥檚 Michael O鈥橲ullivan said the film is 鈥渄isappointingly derivative鈥� a silly script鈥� when it comes to visuals, the director has a modest flair鈥� Despite its deficiencies, 鈥楢nnabelle鈥� is not without a modicum of verve. It has its unnerving moments, but they鈥檙e outweighed by the sheer stupidity and predictability of the story.鈥澛�