Uncanny Annie Review: In the US, Uncanny Annie aired as the premiere episode of the second series of Hulu’s television series Into the Dark. The series, produced by Blumhouse, is basically a horror version of Black Mirror and each week unveils a new feature-length story with a different cast, director and story. In the UK, it debuts as part of the Frightfest Halloween line-up.
Hulu
It’s All Hallows Eve and, rather than go out partying like the rest of campus, six college students (three male, three female) settle in for a night of board games. This rather sedate celebration is in honour of their friend who died in tragic circumstances. They get a lot more than they bargained for though after their game of choice, Uncanny Annie, turns out to have very real life or death consequences. The group must subsequently work together to finish the game before Annie can claim them as her latest victims.
Uncanny Annie is exactly the horror Jumanji film that it sounds like. It’s on a much smaller scale production budget however, so don’t be expecting herds of rhinos etc. Rather than throw a load of monsters or the like on screen, director Paul Davis instead opts to create an unsettling tension, slowly ramping-up the implications of each player’s turn. Things start innocently enough with players told to share their biggest fears, nothing unusual there as that is exactly what you had to do in Atmosphere, but then things get really personal and cracks in the group’s relationships begin the show. The game opens up a wedge between them in a bid to keep them from completing the game in the set time. The time aspect of the game is a clever one, and once the game begins, the film plays out in real-time, meaning that by extension the viewer is also a part of it.
The fact that Blumhouse had a hand in creating this means that the production values are significantly higher than your average genre feature. Everything from the set to the costumes, is very glossy and has an almost ‘too good to be true’ quality. Some of this gloss detracts from the story though. When everything is so pristine looking, it causes a disconnect for the audience as it becomes very apparent that what they’re watching isn’t real. The film also suffers, like so many other horror films, from casting a group of actors who are Abercrombie model perfection. Although channelling the archetypal characters of the slasher, it still alienates the viewer a little as they’re not a true reflection of society.
Uncanny Annie is a really accessible horror film; it’s a great horror film for those with a timid horror constitution. It’s not too violent, or at least the more brutal violence within is off-screen, and all the scares unfold in the ‘safe’ space of the board game. There will be no sleepless nights worried that someone is going to sneak into the house and murder you, or that that bump in the night is a ghost. The unreality of the game world adds a buffer to the real world meaning that those not used to horror will survive unscathed. Essentially Uncanny Annie makes for a great gateway horror film. A perfect film to sit and watch with the teens before you crack out the classics.
Slight issues with the excessive gloss of everything aside, Uncanny Annie offers the viewer a lot of fun. Davis has created an interesting world within the game, one that could easily be built upon for another trip around the board. The perfect film to introduce those of a more sensitive disposition to the horror genre, Uncanny Annie makes for a wonderful Halloween-time watch.
Uncanny Annie was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest Halloween 2019.
