-Muggle Film Review-

  Name: The Woman in Black (2012)

 Category: Horror

Overview:

The woman in black is an on-screen telling of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, the second adaption of the tale.

The story begins in London, where lawyer Arthur Kipps still grieves the death of his beloved wife Stella on the delivery of their son Joseph four years ago. His employer gives him a last chance to keep his job, and he is assigned to travel to the remote village of Cryphin Gifford to examine the documentation of the Eel Marsh House that belonged to the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow. Arthur befriends Daily on the train and the man offers a ride to him to the Gifford Arms inn. Arthur has a cold reception and the owner of the inn tells that he did not receive the request of reservation and there is no available room. The next morning, Arthur meets solicitor Jerome who advises him to return to London. However, Arthur goes to the isolated manor and soon he finds that Eel Marsh House is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a woman dressed in black. He also learns that the woman lost her son drowned in the marsh and she seeks revenge, taking the children of the scared locals.

Characters:

There are very few characters in this, Arthur Kipps being the leading of the few; however, all are very well portrayed and written, echoing a more modern approach on a classically written horror story. Arthur’s character is built well and he is a strong and likeable lead, though obviously, as in all horror films, far to inquisitive for his own good…

The supporting role of Sam Daily, a local landowner who warns Arthur of the dangers of Eel Marsh house and ends up helping Arthur solve the mystery and appease the spirit. His character comes across well and is superbly acted and written as a more fatherly figure who ahs suffered at the hands of the Woman in Black but, unlike the locals, dares to try and put an end to her actions.

As said, there are few main characters, though all featured are strongly written and I could truly say nothing bad about the characters in this film. They echo the horror theme and add some extra modernisation to it despite the films Edwardian setting.

★★★★

Cast and Acting:

Not only are the characters well written in the film, they are also superbly portrayed. Again two main actors come into mind as Daniel Radcliffe (The Harry Potter Franchise, Horns) portrays Arthur Kipps’ weaknesses, heart break, resilience and, to some extent, darkness superbly. He makes the character more than a tool for the ghost in this story and adds feeling to the lead as well, also dealing with the special affects and adaptions well. Radcliffe seems very at home in the historical environment also, and gets his character’s personality in perfect balance.

Ciaran Hinds (The Phantom of the Opera, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy) also put up a solid and heart felt performance as Sam Daily, as did Janet McTeer as his hysterical wife, who switched between the moods of her character with ease and chilled us to the bone with her in-character predictions (spoilers…).

Liz White, portraying the Woman in black herself, did not wow us with her acting because of her spiritual character, but her lone, foreboding whispers and her body movement fitted into the role perfectly as the horrifying character.

The villagers, portrayed by various actors, were strongly though stereotypically acted, but made for a solid mob who yearn for the downfall of the woman in black and have been damaged by her actions, though hostile towards Arthur Kipps. On the whole, the small cast is very talented and the acting spotless.

★★★★½

Writing:

The script is very solid for the woman in black, reeling the mystery out little by little for a tantalising watch and scaring the wits out of you in the process. The film does take a while to get going, and is not built on gore but on tension and a whole lot of jump scares. I now admit to humiliating myself during my watching of this film as I spent most of it with my hands over my eyes. It is truly a brilliant adaption of the book and the transition to screen play is smooth, retaining much of the book’s details.

★★★★

On the Whole:

The Woman in Black is a traditional horror film, containing all key elements for a terrifying watch, including a haunted house, a vengeful ghost with a chilling backstory and a tragic ending. As said above, it does not rely on gore for scares but focus more on tension and jump scares. It could be ranked between the moderately scary and very scary levels and is also good to watch for a bit of fun as you and your friends shriek at every jump scare there is. It is attractive in a classic way and remarkably good considering the genre.

★★★★