The Woman in Black Review

The Woman in Black is Daniel Radcliffe's first movie since Harry Potter ended. Because of this I was worried that whenever I looked at Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe's character in this movie) I would see a certain boy wizard staring back.
Thankfully, the tense atmosphere and jumps of this movie give you no space to think about anything else other than where the next scare is coming from.

The Woman in Black centres around Arthur Kipps - a widowing solicitor who is called upon to handle the estate of Alice Drablow who owned Eel Marsh House before she died. Unwelcoming locals are the least of his problems when he goes to the house and sees the ghostly figure known as The Woman in Black.

As soon as Kipps gets to the house the scares start coming. Most of the time they're just things that make you jump e.g. a bird flying out from nowhere. But they succeed in making you have a little accident almost every time.

This is aided by the tense atmosphere the film carries with it for the duration. You never feel safe, you always feel there is something round the corner. This is a film that doesn't need gore. The subtle things like seeing a ghostly shape in a mirror just for a second are enough to keep you on the edge of your seat until the climax where things start to really get scary.

Daniel Radcliffe for the most part does a good job in leaving his potter past behind, but at times I still find his acting a little wooden. Then again I've always thought that about him from the beginning of the HP days, so it wasn't a big deal.

There isn't a huge supporting cast, but the few who have substantial parts all do expertly well - I particularly enjoyed watching the couple who were the victims of the woman's work before - played by Janet McTeer and Ciaran Hinds.

The only real problem I had with this movie was the ending. It wasn't the worst ending I've seen this year (see Chronicle) but it was still a little disappointing.

In the end though, The Woman in Black is a scary film that is sure to make you jump and shiver again and again! The acting is mostly great, albeit the odd robotic line from Radcliffe - but this is a minor set back. The only real flaw is the slightly disappointing ending.

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Movies