Even though this film was a remake of the original it still was pretty dang good. It had alot of jumpy part, so creepy moments and I was really glad to see that the movie didn't have a lame ending.

This was a preety good movie and i really enjoyed watching it!

Considering this film is a 12a I knew it wouldn't be too scary, the trailers on the t.v suggested it would be "scariest film of the decade". I am kind of desensitised to horror films so I didn't find it scary, it was jumpy but there wasn't enough suspense. For a young teenage audience it would probably be brilliant to scare them senseless and be the talk of the playground. Id'e recommend this film if you are easily frightened or if you are curious to see Daniel Radcliffe in a different roll, which imo he's quite good! slightly cheesey story but worth a watch.

The Woman in Black is a 2012 supernatural thriller directed by James Watkins, the director of the hugely successful British thriller Eden Lake (2008). Based on Susan Hill’s novel of the same name and a remake of the 1989 television drama production, is produced by the legendary Hammer Film Productions. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Sophie Stuckey, and Liz White.

Set In the Edwardian era, the story follows young father and solicitor Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife (Stuckey) during the birth of their now four year old son Joseph. Despite his troubled life, he is assigned with the task to handle the paper work for the estate of Alice Drablow, the previous owner of the Eel Marsh House, where she lived with her husband, son and sister, which is now shrouded in mystery. Despite the less than welcoming appearance of the small town and the unfriendliness of the locals, Kipps finds solitude in Sam Daily (Ciarán Hinds).

Situated on an island in the marshes the house now stands abandoned and feared by local residents for the secret evil that lurks within the shadows of the house. Kipps who witnesses the veiled figure of a woman dressed in black reports his sightings to the local police. At the station the young solicitor is confronted with three children hysterical as the two boys’ sister has drunk Lye (a corrosive, alkaline substance), and dies in Arthur’s arms. The town has had many child suicides leading them to believe it is the work of a superior force…“The Woman in Black”. Believing that she seeks revenge by taking their children due to the death of her own child who was killed in the marshes after their car sank into the mud. Without the power to retrieve the car the body of her child was never recovered.

The locals believe that whenever the Woman is spotted a nearby child is killed. As of Kipps arrival at the manor house there have been more regular suicides and the town’s people are angry and warn Kipps to leave, knowing all to well the destruction his presence will have on the community. With the encouragement of Sam Daily he stays believing it is a supernatural myth, although he is all to aware of what he has been seeing.

During dinner with Sam and his wife he discovers that they too have lost a son, Nicholas, who drowned whilst playing at the beach with his friends. Nicholas communicates through the possession of Elizabeth’s body. She draws a hanging woman who Kipps realizes is Jennet. After returning to the manor, Kipps discovers notes claiming that Jennet was mentally unstable and not allowed to care for Nathaniel (who was actually Jennet’s son). This was hidden by Alice, who raised Nathaniel as her own son. He also finds out that Jennet hung herself due to his death long ago.

Kipps realizes he must put Nathaniel to rest by giving him a proper burial. Sam along with Kipps travel back to the Marsh to locate Nathaniel’s body. They take his body and lay him in the nursery in the house. The Woman appears and knocks Kipps to the floor, but they finally lay Nathaniel to rest by burying him with his real mother, Jennet. Despite this, the woman is then seen stating “I’ll never forgive!” “I’ll never forgive!”

Kipps is reunited with his son, Joseph, at the railway station and plans to leave immediately. Saying his goodbyes to Sam, Joseph wanders onto the tracks towards an oncoming train, Kipps jumps onto the tracks to save Joseph. The train then passes, Sam looks through the windows to see the unrested souls of all the children the Woman in Black has claimed. The film ends with Joseph saying “Daddy, who is that lady?” to which Kipps replies with a smile, “That’s your Mummy.” They have died, yet they are not sad as they are all reunited.

The primary sense of fear from The Woman in Black is created through the use of slightly overused, cliché jumps and predictable scares, yet, for me this is what makes the movie. In recent years there have been many successful ghost stories such as Guillermo Del Toro’s The Orphanage which uses the same legendary techniques which are accustomed to the ghost genre, and so are expected. People cannot state that this lacks imagination as these techniques have been used for years and are what makes people enjoy these flicks. Although you can anticipate the rhythm of these films each is made unique in some way, in this film I have to say it is done with the cast. Happy Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has lead us as far away from his teenage image in the J.K Rolling inspired films. His natural look is suited well for this film, despite his age and having a four year old son in the film, which is accustomed to the period.

Despite the 12A rating on the film, which I find ridiculously inaccurate for the shocks produced, the entire cinema was on edge and screaming, of course, as with most films such as The Strangers, I would recommend watching the in a large audience which feeds the fear! The Characterization of the cast is a little weak as so many important characters are introduced to us we don’t have the screen time to sympathies and empathize with them. However, the dramatic roles of Sam Daily and his wife do add weight to the dramatic undertone which was so successful in the original TV film from 1989.

There is some really good directing from James Watkins whom I have been a fan of since his chilling film Eden Lake. Also a good direction of cinematography with such stand out scenes as; the candle lit shots of a brave Radcliffe exploring the house, the work of the dolls and toys within the nursery and the formidable rocking chair scenes. The music is precisely what I was anticipating with the film, ever so slight and soft and the real dramatic noise is from the mechanical toys and the screams of the woman which still haunt me.

The sole flaw with the film lies with the ending, in an era of filmmakers trying to break loose from cliché and over repetitive endings (such as the hero prospers and evil succumbs) we now have a generation of films like Drag Me to Hell, where the Protagonist always dies. A predictable ending with no huge shock, although the execution of the ending was superb. The slow motion, soundless manner of the shot made people in the audience of my viewing at the cinema GASP!

All in all, I really enjoyed The Woman in Black, a real fresh take on the ghost genre, with the succession of the film being largely based on the main actor Daniel Radcliffe and no doubt the large following he has occurred, making the film within the top two/three at the cinema currently. A mix of original scares with predictability leaves us both intrigued and not disappointed from this horror film. It has not set out to bring new tricks to ghost film making but to pay homage to that already out there. 4/5.