La dame en noir 2: L'ange de la mort

I wanted to like this movie. I loved the 2012 movie with Daniel Radcliffe. I like the premise, using Eel Marsh House as a refuge during the WWII Blitz. However, it was not to be.

Everything in this movie felt cheap and artificial, from the way too loud sound track, the too dark scenery and the multiple "boo" scares that were used instead of actual creepiness and tension building.

The actors were flat and stale, delivering lines that felt like they came from the tablet of an eighth grader. I never once felt anything or cared for any of them.

TWiB herself was much less menacing than in the first movie, when she was even seen at all.

Changing the venue from Eel Marsh to an airstrip midway didn't help things either. The atmosphere of the house is what makes TWiB so creepy. An airstrip with lots of explosions isn't creepy at all.

The ending scene of the movie was so cheap and anticlimactic compared to the end of the 2012 movie, where we're treated to TWiB breaking the fourth wall and glaring directly at the viewers.

This movie could have been good, should have been good. They rushed through it and did it in the cheapest way possible and it shows.

It's 1941. Eve Parkins is escorting some children to the Eel Marsh House escaping from the blitz in London. She meets RAF pilot Harry Burnstow on the train who is stationed nearby. Jean Hogg is the mistress at the home for kids. Strange things occur and a child is found dead outside.

This is a horror without much scares or tension. It has the moodiness but there is too much dark in the scenes. The adults aren't that compelling. The reveal of Burnstow's job is interesting. This movie may be better off if the kids are the protagonists. This could be scary from the children's point of view.

If I could have one wish for all horror movies. Please oh please stop with the unresponsive person (usually a woman or a child) with her back turned only to have her turn around to reveal a grotesque face for the cheap jump scare. I don't know who started that but it's become so cliché. It is this generation's cat-jumping-from-hidden-location. I don't think there is a scary movie today that can do without the back turned person. One of these days I want the approaching person to just turn around and leave.

As for the movie: it was alright. What could I expect? The premise was already known and established as well as the woman in black, so what much could they do with that besides give her more kids to kill. Insert new adults and new kids and there's your sequel.

'THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2: ANGEL OF DEATH': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The first movie of 2015 might actually be one of the worst. This sequel, to the 2012 supernatural horror flick 'THE WOMAN IN BLACK' (which stars Daniel Radcliffe), was directed by Tom Harper and written by Jon Croker and Susan Hill (Hill also wrote the novel that the first film was based on). It stars Phoebe Fox, Jeremy Irvine and Helen McCrory and takes place 40 years after the events of the first movie, during World War II. A group of schoolchildren are taken to the haunted 'Eel Marsch House' and terrorized by the angry ghost there. I like the atmosphere and decent production values, of the film, but it's also a complete bore.

The story begins in London, during the Blitz of WWII. A group of schoolchildren are evacuated to the countryside by their headmistress, Jean Hogg (McCrory), and her aid, Eve Parkins (Fox). They meet up with an air raid warden, named Dr. Rhodes (Adrian Rawlins), who takes them to the 'Eel Marsch House' to hide out in. They soon realize they're not safe there either, as the ghost of Jennette Humfrye (Leanne Best), also known as 'The Woman in Black', begins to haunt them.

I enjoyed the first film, to a certain extent, but I wasn't overly impressed by it either. This movie is even slower-paced and less frightening. Like I said it looks good and has the right mood and atmosphere for a decent supernatural thriller, but it never feels scary and it isn't the least bit involving. It's not an amateurish or poorly made film, really, but it is painfully dull (which is the worst crime a movie can commit, in my opinion).

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The film has decent horror, although severely lacking in originality. It consists of almost entirely borrowed aspects, not only from the prequel, but many other horror movies from last few years. It's a parade of creepy unsettling woman, a troubled child from Omen who dutifully stares blankly and draws eerie picture, and an equally troubled woman who desperately needs redemption. Aside from a couple moments, it gets too predictable which reduces the tension from its great atmosphere.

Story follows a group of children in refuge from war led by two women, the circumstance forces them to spend their time in a decrypted mansion. In time of war and set in particularly unsettling village, the movie has good desolate ambiance. Cinematography brings a crisp grayish look, often dark and grim. In a few scenes such as the overlook of the bog or lingering fog on cemetery, the shot alone sets a good tone for scare.

However, the pace offers little in term of thrill. Sequences are heavily constructed in stiff motion, from flashback, founding of old trinkets and silent traumatic boy Edward, who inexplicably sees some unexplained thing. Characters have little range or depth, in exception of Harry Burnstow (Jeremy Irvine). The protagonist Eve Parkins (Phoebe Fox) is strictly one dimensional. She's too fixated on Edward, despite there are other children who also need her. Their relationship isn't relatable and quite honestly the kid isn't that interesting either.

Her hobbies include splitting from the group and investigating random area by herself. Practically half of the movie is her wandering off, this is not a recommended act when in war, worse if it's something related to unworldly presence. One character stands out amongst the rest, Harry the pilot. Jeremy Irvine does a fine job to portray the role, which isn't that surprising considering his work in War Horse.

The movie still has a few of genuine scary moments, the rest are instigated by poorly made jump scare and shock value from the blaring sound. This feels cheap as it could've utilized the visual more rather than using comfortable honking. The Woman in Black: Angel of Death is a movie cobbled with old elements in different dressing.