Forget The Dark Universe. The best horror franchise currently in play belongs to James Wan, whose “The Conjuring” spin-offs delivers a world filled with nightmarish creatures like The Crooked Man, The Nun, and a doll that could make even Chucky’s blood run cold. Welcome to the frightful terrain of “Annabelle,” now equipped with a whole movie to provide its backstory.

Although 2014’s “Annabelle” did well enough at the box office to warrant a sequel, reviews were less than stellar. But the surprise success of Mike Flanagan’s “Ouija: Origin of Evil” offered a solution that was likely too good to ignore: hire an indie horror director to create a prequel-sequel set in the past. And so, the hideously scary doll of the first installment was reborn, this time with “Lights Out” director David F. Sandberg behind the camera.

Read More:‘Annabelle: Creation’ Trailer: The Evil Doll Gets an Origin...