Uncanny Annie

 

Name: Uncanny Annie

Directed By: Paul Davis

Subgenre: Supernatural Thriller

Series: Spooktober 2019 entry #27; review #58; Blumhouse's Into the Dark entry #1

Review: Simply put, Uncanny Annie is basically Jumanji but with horror trappings and none of the charm. A gaggle of college students decide to spend Halloween playing some board games to honor their late friend and end up playing Uncanny Annie, game housing a sadistic spirit whose schtick is killing via challenges (and who leans way too hard at the whole spooky infantilism thing). The players are subject to a series of party games that have been perverted into something far more fatal. Problem is, save for a few scenes, the games aren't all that interesting. They're beset by a handful of spirits, but the designs are, frankly, lazy and uninteresting. The characters are more compelling than the usual teen scream fare, but that's because the film spends too much time building up the drama between them rather than fleshing out the premise. Uncanny Annie isn't an outright terrible movie, but given how awesome the premise could be, it just feels disappointing in the end. Maybe I'm starting to take this "review" thing too seriously. It's a decent popcorn movie, but it could have been so much better. Side note, apparently Uncanny Annie is the "Halloween" entry into Blumhouse's Into the Dark series of horror films associated with various holidays. While it bills itself as a TV series, since each entry is feature-length and unaffiliated with the others, I'm keeping them separate in terms of my own reviews.

Overall Score: 2.5 out of 5 Chads rolling polyhedral death dice. Did Uncanny Annie scare you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

IMDB: Here

How to Watch: Uncanny Annie is available on these platforms.

Official Trailer