Review of The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death (2014) by Lorrie F — 09 Jan 2015

Atmospheric and creepy, with some unnerving sound effects. (I'm easily rattled. LOL) Excellent recreation of early 1940s period and appealing characters. Unfortunately, there are huge plot holes, and the intriguing conceit of the whole Woman in Black story - that if you see her, your child will die - is pretty much tossed out the window as The Creepy One goes after everybody pretty much willy-nilly.

I enjoyed the first movie, although I actually enjoyed the stage play more, as it really brought home the terrifying idea that one could see the Woman in Black without realizing it, thus unknowingly dooming one's own child. Only looking back on it would a person realize he'd seen her. And when that realization hit, it was truly horrifying. That wasn't emphasized in the first movie, and is pretty much gone from the second altogether.

Despite a promising beginning, the first, "Huh? What?" moment for me was when the Man in Charge of Things tells the apprehensive teachers that there's Nowhere Else to possibly house evacuated London children than creepy, derelict, ridiculously isolated, obviously haunted Eel Marsh House. (No where else in all of England??) And when he refuses to turn on the lights of the bus carrying the refugees up to Eel Marsh House because the bus would then be the target of German bombers, the audience is stumped. Wasn't the whole point of bringing the kids there to get them AWAY from the bombers?

The nearby village appears to have only one occupant, so where did the bus driver go? How will the teachers get food for themselves and the kids once the larder runs low? Was it just assumed the Woman in Black would have gotten everybody before they could eat all the turnips, or bangers and mash, or whatever?

Nevertheless, I still thought the movie was spooky, and it does work up a good dose of dread. The soundtrack was unnerving, even if it did telegraph every scare. And as always, it's only daylight at Eel Marsh for about 2 minutes every 24 hours.

As I mentioned, I'm easily rattled, so I found the movie scary and enjoyed myself despite its shortcomings. I'm sure this will come as no surprise to tell you that, yes, there are plenty of scenes of people wandering around the dark, thumping basement by the tiny light of, say, a cigarette lighter, calling, "Hello? Is anyone there?" Big spoiler: Yes. Someone's there.