ANNABELLE: The Doll From THE CONJURING Breaks Out In First Trailer

"Very few of the details, either in plot or atmosphere, will shock anyone who's seen a horror movie set in a menacing house before. The filmmakers throw everything at the screen: ghosts, demons, possession, scary dolls, eerie music boxes, stopped clocks, dark basements, secret rooms, creepy kids, weird animal behavior, and so on.

But guess what? It works. No one will accuse The Conjuring of being overly original, but it doesn't feel derivative, either, any more than a chef is derivative for using ingredients you've eaten before. It's the way the ingredients are used that matters, and Wan knows what he's doing, avoiding (for the most part) cheap jump-scares and other gimmicks in favor of escalating tension that periodically erupts into good old-fashioned terror."