The Woman in Black: Angel of Death

One never imagined in 2012 that the Woman in Black would actually have a sequel. It was a small movie that used old school tricks to give us a few thrills. But, it did hit it off well with audiences, which is why she returns as Angel of Death. The movie is set in 1941 where children from London are being evacuated to the countryside to keep them safe from the bombings. One such group is sent to Eelmarsh house, the house of the Woman in Black. But of course, the unsuspecting children and the two teachers accompanying them know nothing of this.

The makers of the movie have gone ahead with the script with the assumption that anyone watching this already knows everything about Eelmarsh house. Now, that is a pretty far reaching assumption considering that the original Woman in Black was not such a huge hit after all. There will be many who have not watched the first movie and will consequently have no idea about the reason behind the haunting at Eelmarsh house. Those audiences are bound to find everything a bit meaningless.

Coming to the movie itself, and assuming that you have seen the first part, Angel of Death comes as a

heavy disappointment. It tried to play its cards the same way that the first movie did, by slowly spooking you, by using darkness, half open doors and ravens flashing against the windows. But, it doesn’t work this time because almost always you know that it is coming. The director also tries to use ghastly faces coming out of nowhere as a scaring tactic. But save the rare momentary jump in your pulse, it does not have any effect whatsoever. The lesser said of the story, the better. It is just another one where one kid after the other keeps finding ways to die, with the veiled lady making fleeting appearances now and then. The characters really do not have any meat in them. The only one who seems to have a character arc is the flying officer. He is the only one whose fears seem real, and he doesn’t fear the ghost but something else.

The Angel of Death tries to do what the prequel did. It tries to give you a tense two hours with you guessing what will pop out of which corner. But the script and the director have failed in putting together anything meaningful and even remotely scary. It ends up as a collection of ‘horror gimmicks’ which fall flat. In 2012, when the Woman in Black first released, we hadn’t seen old school horror for a while, which was one of the reasons it found interested audiences. But, in 2013 and 14 we have had far too many including The Conjuring, its sequel Annabelle (which was also a big let down), the forgettable Jessabelle etc. It is not new anymore, which is one more reason the Angel of Death falls flat. And by the way the movie ends, they are definitely leaving room for a sequel. Hope they work hard on the script this time.

The greatest horror is that you actually spent time and money on this!

1.5/5