Annabelle appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie boasted a generally positive presentation.
For the most part, sharpness seemed good. A smidgen of softness cropped up on occasion, but not to a notable degree. Overall clarity remained solid, and the image lacked problems like jaggies, shimmering and haloes. No print flaws marred the presentation.
Like virtually all modern horror flicks, Annabelle went with a stylized palette. We got a chilly teal feel combined with some yellowish tones, so don’t expect anything dynamic. That said, these suited the movie. Blacks were reasonably dark and dense, and shadows were acceptable. Nothing here dazzled but the image seemed perfectly satisfactory.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, it offered a fairly typical horror movie soundscape. This meant a lot of creepy atmosphere and occasional “jolt moments”. Along with good stereo music, the soundfield was able to open things up in a satisfying manner that embellished the story; the mix didn’t impress, but it worked fine.
Audio quality was always good. Music appeared full and rich, while effects demonstrated nice clarity and accuracy. Speech was natural and distinctive throughout the film. Again, this wasn’t a heavily active track, but it made sense for the story.
As we shift to extras, we find four featurettes. The Curse of Annabelle occupies five minutes, 31 seconds with notes from producers James Wan and Peter Safran, stuntperson Tree O’Toole, writer Gary Dauberman, and actors Ward Horton, Tony Amendola and Annabelle Wallis. We learn of the source story and its adaptation for the screen as well as creepy events during the shoot. This offers a superficial promo piece.
During the five-minute, 32-second Bloody Tears of Possession, we hear from Horton, O’Toole, Dauberman, Wan, Safran, Wallis, director John R. Leonetti and actor Alfre Woodard. “Tears” examines a murder scene in the film and Leonetti’s approach to it. While we get a few decent notes here, the show remains pretty forgettable.
Dolls of the Demon goes for four minutes, four seconds and includes Wallis, Wan, Horton, Amendola, Safran, Woodard, and set decorator Kris Fuller. This piece tells us a little about the Annabelle dolls used in the movie. Like “Tears”, “Dolls” includes a couple of good comments but it seems too promotional to be terribly worthwhile.
Lastly, we get A Demonic Process. In the four-minute, 59-second reel, we locate comments from Leonetti, Safran, Wan, Wallis, Horton, KNB EFX Group supervisor Mike McCarty, composer/actor Joe Pishara and sculptor Norman Cabrera. Here we learn of the design and execution of a demon character in the film. It’s another largely insubstantial reel.
Eight Deleted Scenes take up a total of 20 minutes, 35 seconds. The most significant addition comes from the use of a creepy building superintendent character, as he gets ample time here. Otherwise the extra footage tends toward a few more general scare moments and not much else. We find enough of those in the final cut, so these other sequences wouldn’t have added anything to the movie.
The disc opens with ads for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Inherent Vice. No trailer for Annabelle appears here.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of Annabelle. It includes the “Curse” featurette but lacks all the other extras.
Although Annabelle wears its influences on its sleeve, it manages a decent horror experience. In particular, it boasts a consistently creepy atmosphere, and that helps it overcome some of its flaws. The Blu-ray comes with generally good picture and audio as well as a minor array of supplements. Annabelle does enough right to become a moderately involving film.