Any isolated coastal village that is incessantly shrouded in a nebulous fog and bounded by a boggy marsh has great potential to be the setting of a horror movie. It comes as no surprise that a village displaying such eerie qualities would be plagued by supernatural phenomena. In "The Woman in Black," the town of Crythin Gifford sets the stage for paranormal activity in exactly this manner. But this is one scary movie that fails to live up to its full potential.
The film begins with Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), a young, single father working for a law firm in London. He is suddenly required to leave his son and travel to the small town of Crythin Gifford to deal with the legal issues created by an old woman's death. It should come as little surprise that the recently deceased woman inhabited an isolated and decrepit mansion which becomes unreachable during high tide. All locals mysteriously condemn the estate, known as the Eel Marsh House. For unknown reasons, they subtly insist that Kipps leave and abandon this job.
With the only other option being unemployment, Kipps does not heed their warnings. During his first stay at the house, he spots the figure of a woman cloaked in black garments. When he returns to the town to report his sightings, the children of the village start to perish. After realizing the cause of the tragedies, Kipps sets out to expose the dreadful past of the house. His goal is to put an end to the town's suffering before his own son arrives and ends up a victim.
The film, directed by James Watkins, is based on a 1983 novel of the same name by Susan Hill. Jane Goldman, of "X-Men: First Class" (2011) and "Kick-Ass" (2010) fame, took the ghost story and adapted it into the screenplay. The duo's efforts in making this film have resulted in a paradoxical creation. Though the plot is extremely predictable, the film still manages to keep its audience enthralled with suspense.
Every event in this film occurs rather predictably. After watching the first scene, the viewer is able to deduce the direction the film will take. Every key detail or important scene is made extremely, and almost insultingly, obvious, as if the filmmakers believed the audience would be too dull to perform any sort of analysis. The conclusion of this movie is also irksome. The only possible explanation for it would be an attempt to placate both those people who like happy endings and those people who prefer sad endings. Either way, the finale of "The Woman in Black" is a confusing wave of ambivalence that will leave most viewers unsatisfied.
At its core, the thought of children randomly dying because of a ghoulish woman is clearly frightening. But pure fear is an emotion almost never invoked while watching this movie. Instead, the main source of fright comes from suspenseful scenes of Kipps walking through the dark mansion while a ghostly presence breathes down his neck and causes strange events to unfold. For example, a creaking rocking chair moves on its own, candles independently extinguish and flashes of ghostly children are seen emerging from the forest.
The occurrence of sudden and shocking chilling images might even cause some screams. These events are definitely creepy and will keep the audiences' attention, but "The Woman in Black" rarely ventures beyond simple suspense; this movie won't give anyone nightmares.
Simply speaking, this film was mediocre. The weak presentation of this movie is likely a direct result of a sub-par screenplay. In fact, the only reason why this film will not be easily forgotten is because Daniel Radcliffe was the star, and he actually gave a good performance. He is the major redeeming factor to this run-of-the-mill horror flick. Good, but not fantastic, this is the type of movie you will see once in theatres, admire Daniel Radcliffe as someone other than Harry Potter, and be satisfied with not seeing it again.
