40 years after the first haunting at Eel Marsh House, a group of children evacuated from WWII London arrive, awakening the house's darkest inhabitant.
This commercially driven sequel to 2012’s hit Hammer chiller doesn’t have the charge of the original, but there’s still a compelling creepiness to it all.
With a lot of repetitive jumps, jolts and shrieking, it’s a haunted house story that’s only marginally more unsettling than next year’s stamp duty charges.
Harper’s well-appointed sequel has strong performances even if the Woman becomes a supporting character in her own tale.
A much bolder, braver horror sequel than most. Except for a wispy ending, it’s a match for the first.
This sequel to the 2012 Hammer hit shows both the strength and limitations of recycling a well-trusted formula.
A dismally conceived and executed sequel.
Verdict: Sporadically chilling sequel.
Sadly, the material Harper has to work with here doesn’t do him any favours. Like its titular spirit, this is a film that feels like it’s in limbo.
A respectably effective, decorously English addition to the current ghost story wave – Frightfully Insidious, as it were.
The coastal setting and now derelict house still impress but that doesn’t make up for the cheap jump scares and cliché-ridden screenplay.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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