The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death is a sadly mediocre sequel to one of my favorite contemporary mainstream horror films. Set four decades after the first, this follow-up opens in a London besieged by German bombers. To protect them from the Blitz, a group of children are spirited to the countryside in the capable charge of friendly schoolteacher Eve (Phoebe Fox) and her stern superior (the always welcome Helen McCrory). Unfortunately, however, their destination is Eel Marsh House, the decrepit and isolated manor in which the vindictive title female specter resides. It soon becomes clear to teacher Eve their temporary abode is not just damply uncomfortable, but a genuine threat to the safety of the children. She investigates the house's grim history further with the aid of a dashing Royal Air Force pilot (Jeremy Irvine) stationed at a nearby airfield. He pops in when the screenplay demands it and has a contrived redemption arc.

On the surface, Angel of Death has the potential to match the first film. Moving the action forward to dusty, bombed-out England circa the Second World War is a briefly intriguing change of pace. The cobweb-and-shadow art direction is still gorgeous and Gothic, even if the sting of certain props, such as the creepy dolls, is reduced the second time around. The photography, perhaps even more monochromatic than before, is highly atmospheric. And the Royal Academy-trained Fox is an engaging enough lead with her haunted eyes and subtle air of old-fashioned elegance. I expect we will see her in more nuanced dramatic roles in the future.

Despite such qualities, the film proves a tepid experience. The first slowly burned while maintaining a sense of mounting dread. This one is often simply slow, with periods of genuine tedium. Come, ghostly wench! We know you are there! Get busy! Interesting-in-theory concepts and tensions, including Eve and the Woman's war for the soul of a particularly pensive war orphan, are underdeveloped or ultimately unpersuasive. Not a single one of the jolts here can match the majesty of the extended sequence in the prior film in which Daniel Radcliffe's solicitor spends a long, disturbing, dialogue-free night alone in Eel Marsh House. (For the record, as far as I can tell, no reference is made to the Radcliffe character, his troubled stay in the house, and what befell him and his son.) Other elements are also underplayed or dispensed with altogether, such as the daily tidal disruption of the winding road to the house and the nearby town of frightened, ashen-faced locals, reduced here to a single hermit, an absolutely mystifying character poorly shoehorned into the storyline. And it builds to an anticlimactic, corny wisp of an ending whereas the first ended with a memorable and slightly madcap fusion of twisty fatalism and sensation-novel sentimentality.

C

It was generic but I enjoyed it. It had a nice atmosphere and Phoebe Fox was an appealing lead. It's very forgettable though. B-

I actually thought this had a pretty decent set up and interesting premise but the longer it went on, the more dull and stupid it became. I'm so sick of all of these damn horror movies thinking that stupid jump scares are all a horror movie needs. It's getting pathetic. It did have decent acting and cinematography though.

D

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death

Formulaic ghost movie with a lack of scares and an absence of originality. Most of the scares are just a quick glimpse of the Woman in Black's face with or without her mouth open and doing a screaming sound. Jump scares, that's it! She does nothing else. This and the first movie are essentially period dramas with an attention to detail regarding production design and costuming (bravo!), because there's no way these are horror films. Angel of Death is also just a remake of the first, but this time with the attractive Phoebe Fox replacing the dull-as-dishwater Daniel Radcliffe. Nothing is added, nothing is ramped up, the story of the Woman in Black is not escalated at all; we know nothing more about her than in the first film. It's just a bore of a film, and Hammer should be ashamed.

D

The movie looks great and has nice atmosphere, and Phoebe Fox and Jeremy Irvine were very likable, but unfortunately it's just mostly dull. Too many lame jump scares. I'm so sick of the final shot of modern horror films being cheap jolts too, especially of the CGI variety. They are so expected and really don't work. At least not on me anyway. This just makes me appreciate It Follows even more. Mainstream horror is just too formulaic.

5/10 ( C )