- Directed by Andy Orjuela
- July 24, 2004
- Based on Lady Death created by Brian Pulido
Voice Cast
- Lady Death/Hope-Christine Auten
- Lucifer/Matthias-Mike Kleinhenz
- Pagan-Andy McAvin
- Cremator-Rob Mungle
- Asmodeus, Large Torture Troll-Mike MacRae
- Niccolo-Chris Patton
- Father Orbec-Dwight Clark
- Marion-Maureen McCullough
- Elderly Man-Ted Pfister
- Elderly Woman-Marcy Rae
- Young Man-Greg Ayres
- Matthias Guards, Stable Demons-Jason Douglas
- Matthias Guards-Ben Pronsky
- General Ahriman, Torture Guards, Demon Priest-John Swasey
- General Utuk Xul-James Faulkner
- Lucifer’s Concubines-Laura Butcher, Marizol Cabrera-Ojeda, Shelley Calene-Black, Geana Lewis, and Mary Marquez
- Small Torture Troll-Adam Colon
A woman burned at the stake in 15th century Sweden learns she is Lucifer’s daughter and begins a campaign of revenge across the landscape of Hell against him.
Lady Death: The Movie is a direct-to-video animated feature based on the comics character. While I greatly enjoy comics, I have never read a single thing featuring Lady Death. I know she’s been around since the 90s and I’ve seen her art all over the place, but I can’t say I know a thing about her other than her appearance. I didn’t even know she had her own movie until this came up as a suggestion on YouTube so here we are.
The story begins in Sweden in the 1400s with a young woman named Hope (I guess a nod to the words on the Gates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno) who is in love with a commoner (I guess) named Niccolo. When he returns having decided to give up his medical studies because the type of medicine he wants to pursue is not taught he’s taken away by the young woman’s father and conscripted into his army. What exact mystery medicine he wants to study never comes up. I presume that would be dark magic of some type or just general magic that would tie into our heroine’s origin but we get no explanation.
Hope turns out to be Lucifer’s daughter which would make her the/an Antichrist, but that’s not mentioned and when the villagers find out they burn her at the stake where she winds up in Hell. She goes through a series of trials and tribulations before turning pasty white and taking the name of Lady Death with a strong passion to kill the devil and rule Hell.
She gets her Obi-Wan Kenobi in the form of Cremator who is a former weapon smith for the Devil. The thing is often this guy seems to be giving the orders when she is the leader of this revolution against Lucifer. He will say what should be done and she gives the order to make it happen. This would’ve been something interesting if it was presented as manipulation, but it’s just framed as her being in charge when really Cremator often calls the shots
Lucifer is just the guy in charge of Hell and feels more like an inconvenience than a threat/nemesis. He has all sorts of plans for his daughter and things in general, but they are more aspirational than substantive or even being put into motion. He is not much of a villain. And truth be told, Lady Death seems vastly angrier with Lucifer than he is with her. It makes it all feel very lopsided. It would have worked if they had pulled a Chun-Li/M. Bison in the classic Street Fighter but here it is just awkward.
Some of the concepts and general elements are poorly explained. How does one die again in Hell? Is death permanent in Hell? How does the meek and incapable Hope go so quickly in the master strategist/fighter with clothing by Victoria’s Secret Lady Death? What exactly is Lucifer as Matthias doing on Earth besides making babies? A bit glossed over here.
The animation is not bad for what it is with creepier character designs than most. The gore presented is very minimal with plenty of blood splatter and a few decapitations. I am impressed by how cold it is in Hell as demonstrated by always seeing Lady Death’s nipples. You could cut glass with those.
The voicework leaves something to be desired. It was adequate but not good. There’s just something off about it. I cannot quite put my finger on it. I’m not sure if maybe they just weren’t trying. Perhaps that’s the issue. You need to craft the character through every aspect of what you say and how you say it. And as stories go, it’s not too bad. No great twists or turns.
Ultimately Lady Death is nothing great but it’s nothing that will disappoint either. It’s one of those things that’s okay. If it comes up as a YouTube suggestion you could do worse, but it might not be worth searching out. It’s certainly a curiosity but not an exciting find.
Warren Watched A Movie 