The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death Review

Let me start off by saying that The Woman In Black 2 is a very important horror film for me personally. It's the first of its kind to successfully act as a counter argument towards my theory about horror films being automatically great if they focus heavily on atmosphere, suspense, psychological terror, and "necessary jump scares". And although I still do believe in that principle to a degree, this unexpected sequel proved an opposing thought process considering how much it underperformed even with those attributes included.

Taking it in at a surface glance, this sequel has everything a great "ghost story" horror entry should have in its tool box. The dark and brooding atmosphere, the effective foggy and shadowy color palette, a descent supernatural tale at the center, and a recurring sense of psychological terror used throughout. So, even with all of these elements being taken into consideration, why did I come out of this feeling rather underwhelmed and practically bored overall? Admittedly, this was a bit of a dilemma for me thinking about the whole thing. It wasn't as cut and dry as it usually is for me to point out the flaws of a movie or series.

With this one, I couldn't quite put my finger on it...until I realized how much the artistic effort of the execution was being spotlighted more than the movie itself. In other words, my attention was starting to lean towards catching the familiar notes that the filmmakers were attempting to hit in order to carry on the legacy of the first film instead of getting engulfed in the viewing experience myself. Usually, if I'm ever watching a movie, and the production related components catches my attention more than anything else, that tells me that the movie itself is lacking in its engagement for me. What this also tells me is that perhaps, potentially speaking, there really wasn't much of anything else that could've been done with the material itself. 

The first film did a great job (although by no means a perfect film) at giving you just enough to keep your attention on the "monster" headlining the whole thing. What this sequel does is continue down the same path of suspense and tension in an effective surface fashion without giving a legitimate reason to tag along. That extra piece in any movie or show that encourages the audience to pay attention and follow the progression of what's taking place. Where the viewer realizes that they are watching something that's more than just moving images on a screen. This leads to possibly the main downfall of The Woman In Black 2...its characters.

When you take a step back and look at this sequel at first glance, it's rather easy to say that there's really nothing glaringly wrong with the characters as they all serve their roles in your typical haunted house flick. You have your stern nanny archetype as well as your gentle and caring young nanny character (the innocent, heartfelt victim that the audience automatically latches onto). Best of all are the children, who in my opinion, actually did a serviceable job which is nice to see in this genre, so I'll definitely give credit where credit is due. Having children in a horror story naturally creates more tension and a sense of panic since no one in their right mind would want to see a kid in danger. So, it has that going for it as well.

The Woman In Black 2 actually takes a few bold steps in preying specifically on that type of viewer-driven panic. However, much like everything else, I felt like I was seeing the effort of the attempt verses actually being terrified myself. The problem with these characters is that after they experience something that should be downright horrifying, they hardly react to said experience in a manner that would be relatable. One of the golden rules for horror (or any genre for that matter) is that, if the filmmaker wants the audience to feel immersed, characters onscreen should emote to the situations that they're in. This of course plays on the very natural reaction to us as human beings watching whenever we see someone experience a very powerful emotion in front of our eyes. We feel inclined to share in that moment ourselves or have a reaction of our own.

That sense of captivation is lacking here as no one ever seems "truly terrified" in regards to what they're seeing (with the exception of a couple of scenes). Our central protagonist frequently sees the "woman in black" throughout this creepy house, yet instead of showing genuine fear and panic, she constantly chases after her or yells at her. Yes, not every woman in a horror film should run away from the "monster" and eventually trip over a branch or something that was conveniently placed. However, keep in mind that this film has nothing going for it except for the atmosphere and...well...a supposed-to-be scary woman in black. It's like watching a Nightmare on Elm Street sequel where every victim that Freddy attempts to kill just curses him out and wakes up unscathed. You've essentially removed any reason for the viewers to be afraid of what they're seeing at that point.

That being said, the most impactful moments of the film comes with the children at this home where the ghostly woman shows up. I'm surprised that they didn't utilize the children more in showing how terrifying it actually would be to encounter this evil entity in a creepy and unknown environment. Instead, we're only given about three children that gets affected in terrible ways. Perhaps this sequel, come to think of it, would've benefited from being shot through the perspective of the children as not only will you experience the nightmarish experiences of a child, but also that genuine panic of seeing an innocent child in danger. I feel like they missed a great opportunity there at feeding on our natural fears and protective instincts as an audience.

As for the ghost itself, if you've seen any modern day supernatural horror film, then you've seen just enough to know what a CGI ghost looks like. It's sad to witness how 90% of the paranormal horror films in the past decade or so basically use the same CGI stretched out faces, black eyes, or awfully generated shadowy figures to portray "creepy ghosts". It's a shame that the creativity has ended there for most releases, but it does encourage other filmmakers to work around this issue such as here where they specifically use the environment more than the actual ghost itself. Thankfully so. Again, keep in mind that I can only mention the good efforts that I saw, but I honestly couldn't consider it as being effective for me personally. Speaking of which, this is a horror film after all, so was I ever scared? Honestly, I found myself mostly sailing through this pretty relaxed.

However, there is one particularly effective scene that stood out to me (although very minor and brief). There's a moment where one of the girls decide to question Edward (the main child character) about obtaining the picture that he drew after one of the the kids took it from him and died afterwards. What happens after the girl leaves is legitimately creepy as we simply see Edward staring up at the ceiling and watching a decrepit and zombie-like hand slither up a hole. Although not exactly frightening, what makes it effective is the emptiness of any profound and generic jump scare audio cue being inserted. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of the hand slipping pass the withered out shards of wood while disappearing into the darkness. This invokes a genuine sense of fear  especially due to the fact that this hole is located right above the children's room. 

Unfortunately, those short few seconds of brilliance is the only time that I felt truly compelled to see what happens next only to realize that what follows is the same underwhelming feeling that the overall film gives off. In the end, The Woman In Black 2 is an obviously effort-filled haunted house flick that attempts to do something great in utilizing what it succeeded with in the past. Sadly, there's just hardly enough being offered here that can be considered as noteworthy or emotionally impactful as a viewing experience. I think it would be beneficial to look at this as an important lesson for filmmakers to understand that given the tools needed to make a great horror film does not guarantee success if the production effort becomes highly noticeable. 

Remember that the magic of cinema is in its immersion factor where the audience isn't thinking about the man behind the curtain (or the filmmaker and team in this case). I do hope that this sequel was the last time that we'll be seeing of this franchise as it felt very unnecessary to begin with. Some films are simply meant to be a "one off" especially in this genre and The Woman In Black is the shining example of that.

Rating: 5/10