“The Conjuring” rocked the horror world hard in 2013. It was both a critical and financial success, and helped skyrocket director James Wan’s career.

It was inevitable that a franchise would start.

“Annabelle” (Rated R; 98 min) is another example of a poorly made cash grab Hollywood loves to make.

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“Annabelle” is a prequel horror movie directed by John R. Leonetti and stars Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis and Tony Amendola.

In the beginning, a man and a woman in a satanic cult attack a young couple. While both the attackers are killed, no harm is done to the couple or their incoming child. But the happy family find themselves in a battle with the supernatural when the doll the woman attacker bled on brings about a demon who wants the soul of anyone he can get.

So, let’s start with the question of the hour: Are there any good horror movie prequels?

Horror prequels go against one of the key elements to any horror film ever made. In horror movies, there is always a level of an unknown being played. There are very few things that human beings fear more then the unknown.

A little background never hurt any horror movie character. If anything, it enriched them. But too much background can make all those interesting aspects of a character go away. It can even hurt a horror franchise.

This is where “Annabelle” comes in.

By no means was the original movie clicheless and unique. It was a surprise to many skeptical viewers that the film was so critical. But the film had a lot going for it, a lot that this movie missed badly.

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Leonetti has a significant number of films under his belt as a cinematographer, even the original film and both films in Wan’s other big series, Insidious.

And while this film looks like a James Wan creation, it misses whatever charm he brings to his movies.

Wan is not a master director by any means, but he is a very good horror director. There are few directors out there who can make the ridiculousness of the “Insidious” series or the boilerplate quality of “The Conjuring” frightening and compelling like he does.

This movie fails at even being just another ghost movie out there. The jump scares never scare you, and the creepy ghosts and demons that lurk in the background look like a cheap Halloween get up.

Following the doll Annabelle was not the logical step. While an interesting side note in the first film, the most fascinating part was the ghost hunting Warrens.

The acting in this film was extremely disappointing. While having a few notable characters, none of the names even come to visit in this movie, and it is noticeable.

While Ron Livingston and Patrick Wilson are not A-listers, they bring something to their characters in “The Conjuring” that makes them interesting. They help turn stock characters used in many period piece horror movies into characters anyone can relate with.

There is no such luck in this film. While the actors are given good characters to work with, things just do not seem to ever hit. Somewhere along the line there was a miscommunication on how to make empathic characters empathic through acting.

It is October. There are plenty of horror movie options out there. Netflix, Redbox and Family Video all have you covered. Use them and rent yourself a film that is the farthest thing from “Annabelle.”

Stars: 2 out of 5