The Woman in Black

[skizzerflake]

If you're in the mood for a screamer, this one is pretty good. For fans of old horror movies, Hammer Films is back and this seems to be the first of their new films to hit the US. Post Potter, Daniel Radcliffe is quite good as a troubled lawyer trying to save his career by traveling to a dismal, dreary small town to settle the affairs of a client. Both the town and the old mansion he has to settle make the audience want to tell him to immediately GET OUT OF THIS TOWN. His character is somewhat like Jonathan Harker in the novel version of Dracula....ignoring all the signs that indicate that he should not want to be there.

Something is killing the children of the town and Radcliffe's character is right in the thick of it. This is a classic British ghost movie, full of bumps in the night (some in the day too), creepy stairways full of dismal paintings, dark, candle lit hallways, an overgrown cemetery..."the moors" and the unsettled dead. Ciarin Hinds is also quite good as the only other sane person in town, a rich sceptic with a trouble wife. The sets and scenery are full of gothic atmosphere, hints that something is going on and thankfully not full of the usual overdone FX. The whole effect is dark, gloomy and without a trace of irony. If you like hauntings and Brit horror, this is definitely worth a view. I'm glad to see Hammer back.

 

[zhimbo]

I had no idea that Hammer Films had been brought back from the dead to walk among the living again. I love the old 50's/60's Hammer films.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Radcliffe will have a hard time getting disassociated from Harry Potter

 

[skizzerflake]

Radcliffe will have a hard time getting disassociated from Harry Potter

Judging from his musical activity and his performance in this flick, I think in 10 years we will read a bio that says something like "Radcliffe, who, you might remember, had a beginning in the Harry Potter franchise, moved on to...". He definitely is NOT Harry in this movie.

 

[zhimbo]

Judging from his musical activity and his performance in this flick, I think in 10 years we will read a bio that says something like "Radcliffe, who, you might remember, had a beginning in the Harry Potter franchise, moved on to...". He definitely is NOT Harry in this movie.

Yeah, he's been getting good reviews for very NON-Potter stage work. Only a tiny tiny fraction of the total Potter audience will have seen him on stage, but it bodes well for a real career. And he seems like a sincere and nice guy, so I keep rooting for him.

 

[shadyJ]

How does this version of the Woman in Black compare to the 1989 version, does anyone know? I enjoyed the original, but I am afraid they did to this what they did with the remake of The Haunting.

 

[skizzerflake]

I have not seen the old one, but compared to most contemporary horror flicks, this one was not over-the-top with FX and gore.

 

[bilesteve]

this one I enjoyed

To me, this was as good a horror movie as "Cabin in the Woods" seemed stupid and a waste of time. It was great that Hammer is back producing excellent horror flicks, I look forward to seeing their next effort.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I finally got around to watching this one and I thought it was quite good. I don't watch many horror movies - mainly because most of them are too stupid to sit through. Although it was relatively light on the gore factor, I still found myself jumping out of my skin every few minutes. Must be getting nervous in my old age. The ending suprised me and I'm not sure if I'd consider it good or bad.

 

[j_garcia]

I liked the ending. It was better than expected, but not going to be one of Halloween recommendation movies.

 

[skizzerflake]

I finally got around to watching this one and I thought it was quite good. I don't watch many horror movies - mainly because most of them are too stupid to sit through. Although it was relatively light on the gore factor, I still found myself jumping out of my skin every few minutes. Must be getting nervous in my old age. The ending suprised me and I'm not sure if I'd consider it good or bad.

You're supposed to get a bunch of bump-in-the-dark scares, otherwise it isn't much of a scary movie, especially since WIB doesn't do the exploding head kind of gore. I wasn't sure whether I liked the ending, but it was certainly consistent with the prevailing atmosphere of gloom.

 

[shadyJ]

If you like this one, watch The Orphanage, I think they share a similar atmosphere and have a couple of other elements in common. It isn't a stupid movie either, as so many horror films are.