The Woman in Black Review

You can see videos of the premiere here.

It’s been a while since I’ve watched a scary movie, that’s not to say I haven’t watched “scary” movies, it’s just that accolades such as “Scariest movie of the decade” or “my heart actually stopped when watching this movie” have never quite lived up to the hype. It’s also because most modern day horror films seem to have skipped the psychological horror/suspense for out & out shock with extreme graphic violence. Look back at films made over the last few decades, many, if not all fall into the category of “slasher” or worse of late “torture porn” – gone are the days of clever scares, replaced with in-your-face blood and gore. Thankfully, The Woman in Black is a throwback to the days of old, restoring my belief that scary movies can still exist.

Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake, My Little Eye) and based on the popular novel by Susan Hill, The Woman in Black stars Daniel Radcliffe in his first film project following the final Harry Potter movie. Radcliffe takes the lead role as Arthur Kipps, a young Victorian lawyer who must leave his son in London, having been assigned the job of settling the legal affairs of the recently deceased Alice Drablow.

Arriving at the remote village it is soon made apparent that his presence is not welcome. In order to complete his work or face loosing his job Kipps is left with no other option but to stay the night alone at Eel Marsh House, the Drablows’ foreboding home that sits isolated in marshland. As Kipps works through the night sorting through a mountain of paper he begins to uncover tragic secrets, unearthing a dark mystery that has haunted the village residents for many years, in the ghostly form of The Woman in Black.

With this being Radcliffe’s first movie outside the wizard realms it was never going to be easy to break out of a character that has dominated his career, many will be watching, judging if he is a competent actor or a one trick wizard pony, unfortunately this may not be the film role to answer that question

Radcliffe’s character has a very disturbed past – perfectly expressed by the pictures his son draws, each depicting daddy with an upside down smile – his wife died in childbirth, he is looking at mounting overdue bills and under performing at work he’s even at risk of loosing his job. He has very little to be happy about except the love of his young son, but even that isn’t enough to bring a smile to his face. Radcliffe’s portrayal of Kibbs is very dark and emotionless, his expression is stone-cold even when faced with the horrors of dying children and a very haunted house, which of course is absolutely sympathetic to the characters troubled life, but not so useful in judging his acting ability. Personally, I thought Radcliffe was brilliant and carried the film with ease.

I did have one initial concern with Radcliffe at the start of the film, that was his age. He is the father of a young boy and yet he himself seems to young and fresh face to have a child – even with the 5 o’clock shadow – that said it doesn’t take to long to put that to one side and move on.

This is a prominent lead role for Radcliffe, taking front and centre with a relatively small cast, its far removed from the cast of many in the Harry Potter films, luckily Radcliffe does have some stella support at hand, most notably from Ciarán Hinds who turns in a solid performance playing Sam Daily, a local landowner who befriends Kipps on the train journey and soon becomes the only person that Kipps can turn to for help. And Janet McTeer plays Mrs. Daily a tortured soul bereaved by the loss of her son and convinced that she, at times, is possessed by her dead sons spirit.

The Woman in Black is very rich in style, with it’s muted colour palettes, misty landscapes and bluewash moonlight scenarios, it’s very much a modern day throwback to the style of the Hammer horror movies from the 1950′s – I’m pretty sure those deer antler chandlers were a nod to the old horror films where they were compulsory in every creepy house on a hill.

As you would expect being a horror movie the film is dark, beautifully dark in fact, not in the sense that you can’t see what’s happening on screen, no, dark in a very foreboding, atmospheric, somebody lurking over your shoulder type of way. Scenes are framed as such that you can’t help but scan the screen, looking in the background to make sure you are not missing something. The lighting is perfect, just enough to capture the environment whilst leaving those dark corners intact where anything could happen. There is a wonderful moment when Kipps is investigating a room and the candlelight is reflected in the eyes of a number of different clockwork toys, giving the impression that the eyes are following him around the room, very clever. The sound is amazing, perfectly capturing the moment of a creaking floorboard or whisper of the wind and bringing with it tension, suspense and the threat of something scary, and when the big scares come, they come with audible vengeance.

When watching The Woman in Black I was reminded of those videos you find on video sharing websites, the ones that your friends send to you and tell you to concentrate on a task, so you do and then after a while something jumps up onscreen and scares the bejesus out of you. Well, that’s what this movie is like, once the film has established its direction, the fun begins, slowly at first but eventually it becomes relentless, just when your heart rate is settled, BANG! Here’s another, and another.

Sure, not all the scares are original but they sure as hell work. I was sitting between two ladies at the screening – neither of which I knew – and they were both squirming in their seats by half way through the movie. The lady to my right was very vocal about the fear she was experiencing, on several occasions letting out a yelp or scream, much to the humour/relief of the rest of the audience. This brings me onto something of a recommendation, if you are going to watch The Woman in Black or any horror film in fact, try and watch it in the cinema, I always find that the communal viewing of a horror film (and oddly enough a comedy) adds greatly to the enjoyment of the film, it seems to somehow amplify those feelings of fear (or joy) tenfold, nothing beats seeing the terror on other peoples faces.

As the Little girl in the original teaser trailer sings, “What she wants is unknown, but she always comes back. The spectre in darkness, the woman in black” – one thing I do know, if she’s looking to instil a bit of fear into the audience, she’s doing a damn fine job.

The many "stone-cold" faces of Mr Kipp

The Woman in Black opens in the UK on 10th February 2012.