Daniel Radcliffe Stars in Chilling ‘The Woman in Black’

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
Average: 3 (2 votes)
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The most important element to the opening of “The Woman in Black” is the Hammer Films logo that caused the legendary Roger Ebert to applaud when it appeared in the screening room here in Chicago. This is a Hammer Film through and through complete with unbelievable character action, loud sound effects, extreme shock scares, and other B-movie manipulations. It fits snugly in the filmography of the studio that revived Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy for a new generation. And yet it is also surprisingly effective for modern audiences. There are some overdone elements and the script could have been a bit stronger, but the movie works on its own terms, sending a chill up your spine in effective ways.

Hammer Films have become known more for camp due to titles like “Taste the Blood of Dracula,” “Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb,” and “Creatures the World Forgot,” but “The Woman in Black” comes more from the early days of Hammer horror, playing up the melodrama but leaving most of the B-movie elements at home (to be fair, I almost wish it had a bit more whimsy and personality and wasn’t always so straight-faced although a few of the jump scares will make you laugh at their sheer audacity). Based on Susan Hills’ novel of the same name, debut director James Watkins delivers this tale of a bogeywoman in black in a relatively linear line, letting the ghostly activities unfold in an old-fashioned, somewhat predictable manner, but doing so in a way that feels respectful of the long lineage of ghost stories from which this tale was born. Creaking doors, ghostly apparitions, wet footprints on the floor – “The Woman In Black” uses enough timeless devices of the ghost story that it could have been made twenty or even forty years ago. And that’s pretty refreshing in an era overrun by found footage films, Shyamalan twist endings, or other “modern variations” on the genre.

The Woman in Black
The Woman in Black
Photo credit: CBS Films

“The Woman in Black” opens on a super-creepy note as three girls are playing in an attic. They turn and look at something off camera and get suddenly serious. They turn back in the other direction, stand, and march toward three windows, which they open and jump from, plummeting to their deaths. The camera pulls back to reveal a shrouded figure in black who clearly forced them somehow to commit suicide. A child-killing ghost? It starts the movie off with just the right amount of dread and unease, into which enters Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), who is such a downtrodden individual that his son draws a stick figure of his daddy with a frowny face. Even though it’s clearly been years based on the age of his son, Arthur is far from over the death of his wife (Sophie Stuckey) in childbirth.

Kipps is forced by his employer to travel to an abandoned estate to handle the paperwork necessary to take it over. When he arrives at the hotel, everyone looks at him like he brings the plague. The innkeeper claims that the only lodging is taken, but the innkeeper’s wife agrees to put him up in the attic (which is, of course, the children’s room from the prologue). It’s clear that the townspeople don’t want Kipps investigating or stirring things up and we soon learn that it is because they are trying to prevent the deaths of the few children still in town. Any time that someone sees the legendary “Woman in Black,” a child dies. And, of course, if Kipps goes to her house and goes through her things, a sighting or two seems likely.

I won’t ruin the identity of the woman, why she won’t move on, or why she takes the lives of children, but it is a cleverly old-fashioned ghost story of perceived vengeance. Like most spirits, she feels wronged and she will take her revenge on everyone she can by taking what was taken from her – a beloved child. Some of the horror action of “The Woman in Black” is truly disturbing as a child marches into the ocean or another drops a lantern on herself. None of these scenes go on long enough to be truly grotesque. No, the majority of “The Woman in Black” features poor Mr. Kipps wandering the haunted grounds and dealing with increasingly terrifying activity.

The Woman in Black
The Woman in Black
Photo credit: CBS Films

The mid-section of “The Woman in Black,” as Kipps spends a night in the haunted house, is a wonderful set-piece of non-stop horror action. Whether it’s looking out the window to see the ghostly woman, hearing a music box go off down the hall in a house that should be empty, or some terrifying action with a rocking chair, Watkins and his team are clearly having a blast here, rarely releasing the tension as they jump from room to room and scare to scare. And jump is the right word – “The Woman in Black” is made up of “jump scares,” loud sounds and quick cuts designed to make your date grab your arm or even cause you to look away for a second. Some are overdone and I think less could have been significantly more here but I’d be lying if I said that most of them didn’t work for me. They did. They got me.

I know what you’re thinking – how’s the boy wizard? Will he break out of the biggest franchise ever made? The jury is still out. He’s sometimes a bit disappointingly unresponsive here as if he didn’t just see a ghost hanging from a noose or he isn’t horrified at what happened on the bed, but it’s more a product of the screenwriting and direction than Radcliffe’s delivery. Kipps is clearly designed as more of an everyman, our eyes into this ghost story, than a fully-embodied character, and so it’s hard to praise or pan Radcliffe’s work. Great character actors Ciaran Hinds and Janet McTeer are effective in small roles as the only townspeople who seem to be OK with Kipps being around.

Like most Hammer Films, “The Woman in Black” doesn’t set out to jump on a trendy bandwagon or change the expected horror mold in any way. It is an old-fashioned ghost story in a time when it seems harder and harder to make those effectively without a modern hook. There’s a reason that Mr. Ebert clapped when the Hammer logo came up. “The Woman in Black” does nothing to diminish the legacy of its beloved company.

“The Woman in Black” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, and Janet McTeer. It was written by Jane Goldman and directed by James Watkins. It will be released on February 3rd, 2012.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Manny be down's picture

"The Woman in Black"

very Scary movie its’ send chill down my spine went ever the Black figure appear Bcause it’ seem a child would die!!

ziggy one of the best's picture

Woman

wow what a good flick I just love the ending because she would not forget or forgive

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
referendum
tracker