'Into the Dark: Uncanny Annie' review: An eerie Halloween board game horror spun with real characters and murky secrets
This article contains spoilers for 'Into the Dark: Uncanny Annie'.
Hulu and Blumhouse's monthly anthology horror 'Into the Dark' wasted no time in jumping from its debut season to the next with 'Uncanny Annie'.
The 80-minute long feature-length episode might follow suit and focus on yet another horrifying tale spun around a festival signifying the month, but deep within, it is following patterns more than just one.
When the show debuted last October, it started with a Halloween horror directed by Paul Davis, called 'The Body'. And what better way to round of a successful first season than with yet another Halloween-centric special, helmed by the same director.
Davis teams up with Bachelor brothers Alan and James who wrote 'Uncanny Annie' to give us a plot using the same signature tropes of horror with very real personalities.
The plot focuses on a group of young college students who get together on Halloween night to play board games in honor of their friend Tony, who died a year ago on the same night.
The group offers a fresh array of characters that are not restricted to the typical jock and the snooty prom queen.
There's a douchebag boyfriend riddled with guilt (Dylan Arnold), a confused heroine having a hard time taking the lead (Adelaide Kane), the new girl who gets dragged into this mess for no fault of her own (Paige McGhee), the shy, quiet girl with murky secrets (Georgie Flores), the lovable geek who's raging for clarity (Jacques Colimon), and the nerdy science major who's slow when he shouldn't be (Evan Bittencourt.)
These characters come together to create a concoction of stories so layered with their own darkness that they can give the prime element of horror a run for its money.
At the same time, these people are real in their fears and relatable in their pursuits to keep things to themselves. Sadly, that doesn't last long as they get trapped deeper and deeper in the titular Jumanji-like game, where they must complete challenges written on cards they pick to survive the massacre wrecking them alive.
The name comes from the ghost the embodies the game — Uncanny Annie — and this is where the production team plays all their cards just right.
Annie (Karlisha Hurley) is a creepy looking little girl with ominous giggles and a mischievous grin. The best part about her? She is used very sparingly.
In that, Annie's presence is felt pretty much throughout the film, as demonic ghosts, spirits, poltergeists, and ghouls terrorize the characters, but she isn't visible for the most part, only in places where absolutely necessary, thus amplifying the quotient of horror she is capable of exhibiting.
It is also remarkable the way the story sets an insidious tone using just the right palette of hues in its setting. Think Netflix's 'The Haunting of Hill House' or the acclaimed horror, 'Ring.'
The ghost isn't necessarily present at all times, but the cold hues and the eerie quiet exude an aura so ominous that you'll find yourself looking back over your shoulder quite a few times provided you're alone enjoying this joyride of a film.
And when you're not scared of Annie popping up with her devilish cackle right behind your ear, you spend time worrying about the characters who are just young adults with plenty of real-life horrors to keep them busy anyway.
Watching these kids rush up the basement stairs after hearing one out-of-the-ordinary creak, or simply not completely defy the probability of something supernatural happening around them is what helps the film rationalize its story.
In a world full of horror flicks where people act like the concept of horror doesn't exist at all, 'Uncanny Annie' breathes fresh air to revive the genre with characters who act exactly how one would after watching a good horror story.
The tasteful use of gore and blood only when necessary also helps the feature-length episode rise above its contemporaries. Or perhaps it is the simple mingling of playing mind games with characters going missing and appearing on the board game that does the trick.
In short, 'Uncanny Annie' is probably an even better start to a new season than Davis' 'The Body' was last year. Meaning, only bigger and better to look forward to, even if the satirical spin on the festival is missing.
'Uncanny Annie' premieres on Friday, October 4, only on Hulu.
