Review of The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death (2014) by Andrew M — 13 Jan 2015

There's something about modern horror that has gotten lazy and abandoned tension and good pacing for easy jumpscares. More often than not WiB:AoD offers promise of creeping dread only to waste it instantly by shouting BOO right in your face. This is same problem I recall having with Halloweens drab offering of Annabelle, all quiet and hush with creepy toys and then oh...nothing. All the key ingredients for a promising scare-fest, haunted house, orphans, desolate location and so on, but all revealed as wasted opportunities for genuine terror left, right and centre. Oddly enough when the titular woman does show up, she looks like a cross between Japanese Goth Lolita and bad drag (a la the disappointing Insidious Chapter II).

I watched the first Woman in Black (mainly to see if Daniel Radcliffe could pull off a post Potter career) and most of the plot was forgettable and tangled in that. In the sequel they've decided give even less of a toss about the narrative and add confusing and forgettable elements that don't contribute to the plot aside from...more jumpscares but this time in flashbacks. Honestly I cannot think of much praise to give this aside the fairly good performances all round from the cast (god knows how they coped with such an awful premise).

Terrifyingly terrible and nothing short of a cash-cow based on the success of the first. Check out the 1980's ITV series for better.