I’m just going to go ahead and start off this review with a little piece of advice: Do not see this movie the weekend your roommates go out of town and you have the house to yourself. Do not do that.
Keep that in mind, however, and you should be fine. Fans of ghost stories and Daniel Radcliffe@@http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0705356/@@ alike will find a classic, Gothic-style tale of a vengeful haunting in “The Woman in Black,” a film that is surprisingly chilling despite its PG-13 rating.
The story centers on Arthur Kipp,@@http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2010/07/18/daniel-radcliffe-to-star-in-film-version-of-the-woman-in-black/@@ a young, single father who is still very much mourning the death of his wife. He is required by his job to travel away from the city to an isolated village (a very gray, marshy village) where he must settle an estate@@’the’ estate? whose is this? changed it to ‘an’@@ at a beautiful but creepy old Victorian house. Upon his arrival, the townspeople predictably beg him first to leave town or at least to stay away from the old, abandoned mansion. And predictably, he doesn’t listen.@@work before listening-to-people-save-you-life, you know@@
This, of course, leads to a number of creepy incidences at the house: rattling doorknobs, thumping sounds from seemingly empty rooms, fleeting visions just outside the corner of the eye. All of these occurrences climax with the discovery of why Kipp has been seeing the specter of a woman dressed entirely in black — and why she continues to malevolently haunt those around her.
Sounds pretty by-the-book frightening, right? That’s because it is. “The Woman in Black” relies on a lot of traditional, scary-movie techniques such as sudden jumps or flashes for its scares. Much of the time you can predict what will happen — he will fall asleep and something will come up behind him, or the door that has been locked for the whole movie will suddenly open by itself.
At times, this continuous reliance on fleeting surprise gets a little tired. But some of those jumps and scares are classic for a reason, and with its eerie setting, as well as solid performances by the actors, “The Woman in Black” artfully builds and releases tension at key moments, successfully leaving an impression upon audiences after the story ends.
Where it really succeeds is making it apparent to the audience that the main character is most always being watched through carefully chosen camera shots as well as the ominous setting. Relying often on a straight-on shot of the main character, director James Watkins@@http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/interviews/a363012/the-woman-in-black-james-watkins-jane-goldman-interview.html@@ leaves just enough space in the corner of the frame so that you can see directly over his shoulder at whatever or whoever may be lurking there. Add to that the incredibly intricate setting within the house — full of portraits and toys, all with blank stares that somehow seem to follow the movement of the main character — and you get the unsettling feeling of never really being alone.
Stepping out of the Harry Potter role for the first time as an adult, Daniel Radcliffe does a surprisingly good job at leaving behind the famous boy-wizard persona, shedding it after just a few minutes of the story. Paired with an engaging performance by Ciaran Hinds@@http://www.theflickchicks.com/index.php/movie-reviews/judys-movie-reviews-alphabetical/1043-the-woman-in-black-daniel-radcliffe-ciaran-hinds-janet-mcteer-review.html@@ as one of the townspeople, the two actors form an experienced and believable partnership throughout the story.
All in all, “The Woman in Black” is a proficiently scary movie, containing just enough thrills to make you jump and just enough of an intriguing storyline to stick in your head after the movie is over. Fans of Daniel Radcliffe should enjoy a performance that successfully portrays an entirely new character for him, and fans of ghost stories can look forward to a dark, atmospheric tale short on surprises but not on chills.
Grade: B-