After languishing in the depths of obscurity since its collapse in the 1970’s, Hammer Films rebounded in a big way last year with their worldwide hit The Woman in Black.
Starring Daniel Radcliffe in his first post-Harry Potter effort, the gothic horror tale went on to gross $127.7 million on a budget of just $15 million. Now, along with the recent announcement that a sequel is under way, Hammer has revealed the official synopsis.
To be titled The Woman in Black: Angels of Death, the film will be based on an original story written by Susan Hill, who is the author of the original Woman in Black novel. The creepiness at the haunted mansion continues like so:
“Seized by the government and converted into a military mental hospital during World War II, the sudden arrival of disturbed soldiers to Eel Marsh [House] has awoken its darkest inhabitant. Eve, a beautiful young nurse, is sent to the house to care for the patients but soon realizes she must save them from more than their own demons. Despite Eve’s efforts to stop her, one by one they fall victim to The Woman in Black.”
I hugely enjoyed The Woman in Black for reasons ranging from its fine performances to its effective scares all the way to the set design, and that description sounds like a premise I could get behind (even if it’s not hugely divergent). The key here will be to keep intact the period setting that did the original so much justice (and adding a little WWII spookery doesn’t hurt one bit).
Daniel Radcliffe’s return for The Woman in Black sequel is a big IF, for more reasons than one, and considering the plot calls for a female protagonist, it seems as if this follow-up is going in a different direction in that respect.
How about Emma Watson for the part of the nurse?
Source: The Film Stage
