Title: The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death
Director: Tom Harper
Starring: Phoebe Fox, Jeremy Irvine, Helen McCrory, Oaklee Pendergast and Leanne Best
Reflecting on painful past experiences to powerfully mature and learn to appreciate life’s value is a gripping and inspiring challenge for even one person to take on. But when those daunting experiences and painful agony are actually attached to a sinister home, that torment ends up threatening everyone who’s occupying it. That menacing emotional journey is the harrowing main focus in director Tom Harper’s new horror thriller, ‘The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death,’ the sequel to the hit 2012 film, ‘The Woman in Black,’ which stared Daniel Radcliffe and featured identical ominous and passionate turmoil in the same house.
‘The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death’ follows two British caretakers, the young and seemingly optimistic Eve (Phoebe Fox), and the stern wife of a high-ranking military officer, Jean Hogg (Helen McCrory), as they contend with the bombings that are devastating London in 1941, as World War II rages on. The two women have been put in charge of caring for a group of children whose parents have either died during the war, or aren’t able to leave the city to travel to safety. So they’re sent by Dr. Rhodes (Adrian Rawlins), a retired medical doctor who’s currently working for the education department, to live in the now abandoned Eel Marsh House in the British countryside. He assures Eve, who has growing concerns about the safety of the decrepit house, that it’s suitable for them to live in for the time being, even though no one will be able to complete the needed repairs.
As Eve also becomes worried about the emotional well-being of one of the children in her care, Edward (Oaklee Pendergast), as he hasn’t spoken since his parents’ recent deaths, she’s reassured by a local pilot, Harry Burnstow (Jeremy Irvine), who she met on the train ride to the house. While Jean tries to discourage the blossoming romance between the two, as she understands the dangers of military life, Eve and Harry continue to connect as he regularly visits her on the island where Eel Marsh is located.
Despite being drawn to Harry, Eve’s unease at staying at the house continuously grows when she notices Edward becoming even more emotionally distant from her and his friends. But even more frightening is the fact that she’s staring to have visions of the title character (Leanne Best) around the house and island. When the children in her care also begin to mysteriously disappear, Eve and Harry set out to uncover the secrets of the Eel Marsh House, which has been uninhibited since Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) moved in 40 years earlier. The duo also try to do what they can do to keep the Woman in Black from harming anyone else.
While the original movie lacked full explanations of the Woman in Black’s drive to haunt the house’s inhabitants, as well as Arthur’s determination to unveil her secrets, its admirable attempts to provide details on their motivations offered viewers a true emotional empathy for the characters. Unfortunately, Jon Croker, the screenwriter of ‘The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death,’ infused the horror follow-up with several predictable and undeveloped plot elements, most particularly in Eve’s relationships with Harry and the children, especially Edward. Between the rushed explanations into the characters’ backstories and motivations, most notably Eve’s desire to help care for London’s children in need, Harry’s involvement in the British army and how he’s so regularly able to spend time with her and why the title character is still haunting the mansion, the sequel lacked the truly relatable and heartbreaking motivations of its predecessor’s protagonist and antagonist.
Despite the lack of true emotional connections between the sequel’s characters, particularly the strong-minded Eve who was determined to build a relationship with Harry as she continued to protect the children from the menacing title spectre, the horror film’s production designer, Jacqueline Abrahams, alluringly captured the same eerie look and tone of Eel Marsh House that helped make the first film so unnerving. From the harrowing, darkened hallways that hid the menacing Woman in Black as she preyed on the innocent Edward, to the decaying wallpaper and disturbing dolls, armoires and other household items that eerily lined the bedrooms, kitchen, basement and other rooms of the mansion, the designer effortlessly highlighted the disarray of everyone who lived in the mansion.
Cinematographer George Steel, who has mainly proved his versatility through various television projects throughout his career, also grippingly captured the intense emotional pain and moral dilemmas Eve and the other characters contended with throughout ‘The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death.’ The Director of Photography smartly utilized muted, somber colors and tones throughout the horror thriller, to not only reflect the devastating effects that World War II was having on London and its surrounding English countryside, but also the distressing emotional strain Eve and the children were experiencing as they were forced to contend with the title character’s wrath. Steel also enthrallingly captured the characters’ thoughts, fears and desirees through his captivating shots of their metaphoric surroundings, from Eve’s wistful looks at the fog surrounding the island, which powerfully represent her disconnect from the children and society, to the title spirit lurking in the darkened shadows of the house, which hide her intentions of harming the children.
Harper commendably approached continuing the unnerving and disturbing story that began with Arthur Kipps in ‘The Woman in Black’ with ‘Angel of Death,’ by setting the story 40 years later, and chronicling how the title character is still menacingly targeting naïve children and the vulnerable adults taking care of them. The visual effects that enthrallingly drove the eerie emotional and physical harm throughout the horror sequel, particularly the entrancing production design created by Abrahams, as well as the fascinatingly insightful cinematography by Steel, maintained the unsettling and frightening nature of the original movie. Unfortunately, the lack of fully explained and detailed explanations for the characters’ actions, from Eve’s determination to help the children to Harry’s involvement in the British army and the Woman in Black’s growing fascination in Edward, made the horror thriller follow-up feel inadequate, in comparison to its predecessor’s innovative and unique twist on the genre.
Technical: B+
Acting: B-
Story: C+
Overall: B-
Written by: Karen Benardello
