The Woman In Black (2012)

[HorrorMovieFan]

"The Woman In Black (2011)"......This was a damn good movie!! It is a fine and appropriate return to atmospheric horror movies for the once great Hammer Films. It sticks to the source material's (the 1983 novel by Susan Hill) original time period (the late 19th century to the early 20th century), with authentic costumes, sets, and a spectacularly creepy haunted house. The mood is perfect (emphasized by extreme isolation), the sustained dread is gut-wrenching, and the anticipation is very unnerving at times. Although this is a ghost story with the standard rotting abandoned mansion as the central location, it presents several very unique ideas for old-fashioned hauntings. Daniel Radcliff is in top notch form with his performance of "Arthur Kipps", an attorney who has lost his wife during childbirth a few years earlier. He frequently has visions of her in her wedding dress (symbolically, the woman in white), which gives him a newfound sense of spiritualism. However I think the visions were shown a little too frequently and it got tiresome. His last assignment is to journey to a remote village on the outskirts of England. Once there, he must sort out the papers left at Eel Marsh House to finalize the financial and legal dealings of the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow. Although the townspeople wish for Kipps to leave as swiftly as he arrives, he finds a friend in Simon Daily (Ciaran Hinds), and one who has lost his son in an accident and whose wife (Janet McTeer) has gone crazy with mental suffering. What is supposed to be a simple job becomes plagued by disconcerting secrets, the mysterious deaths of children, and the unnatural sightings of an ebony-veiled woman in black funeral attire. The use of demonic-looking toy contraptions and unnerving dolls is nothing new. Nor are the expected, manipulative jump scares fueled by loud thuds, screeches, and jarring sound effects (and a pesky crow), or the sudden appearances of otherworldly imagery coupled with shocking high music score tones. But the evil spirit itself is wonderfully singular in its ability to scare through subtle materialization (coming into sight in alarming manner, with slower paced emergence's more traumatizing than the rapid ones), its targeting of children and pattern of avoiding physical harm to adults, and most of all in its vengeful mission that cannot be appeased or calmed. She's a wronged poltergeist of legendary ill-omen stature and foreshadowing doom. She's not meant to be satisfied, but rather endured. The atmosphere in this movie is crisp, scary, unsettling, and chilling!! A terrific watch!!

9/10

[babagloom]

Haven't finished it yet. I love the cinematography. Hate the random shakey cam. (Shakiness possibly added in post??) Harry Potter's acting is horrible when he's with his kid. Embarrassingly horrible. It's not so noticable in other parts. hmmmm... Jump scare from a sink...seems pretty lame. Bird jump scares slightly better, still lame. I hate to sound so negative, because I really don't think it's that bad so far. Hopefully I'll pick up where I left off and finish tonight.

Also, when I saw the 3 girls and 3 windows I giggled to myself "pleeeeease commit suicide!" I cheered out loud when they did. That made me happy.

[RomeroCarpenter Fan]

Originally Posted by HorrorMovieFan

"The Woman In Black (2011)"......This was a damn good movie!! It is a fine and appropriate return to atmospheric horror movies for the once great Hammer Films. It sticks to the source material's (the 1983 novel by Susan Hill) original time period (the late 19th century to the early 20th century), with authentic costumes, sets, and a spectacularly creepy haunted house. The mood is perfect (emphasized by extreme isolation), the sustained dread is gut-wrenching, and the anticipation is very unnerving at times. Although this is a ghost story with the standard rotting abandoned mansion as the central location, it presents several very unique ideas for old-fashioned hauntings. Daniel Radcliff is in top notch form with his performance of "Arthur Kipps", an attorney who has lost his wife during childbirth a few years earlier. He frequently has visions of her in her wedding dress (symbolically, the woman in white), which gives him a newfound sense of spiritualism. However I think the visions were shown a little too frequently and it got tiresome. His last assignment is to journey to a remote village on the outskirts of England. Once there, he must sort out the papers left at Eel Marsh House to finalize the financial and legal dealings of the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow. Although the townspeople wish for Kipps to leave as swiftly as he arrives, he finds a friend in Simon Daily (Ciaran Hinds), and one who has lost his son in an accident and whose wife (Janet McTeer) has gone crazy with mental suffering. What is supposed to be a simple job becomes plagued by disconcerting secrets, the mysterious deaths of children, and the unnatural sightings of an ebony-veiled woman in black funeral attire. The use of demonic-looking toy contraptions and unnerving dolls is nothing new. Nor are the expected, manipulative jump scares fueled by loud thuds, screeches, and jarring sound effects (and a pesky crow), or the sudden appearances of otherworldly imagery coupled with shocking high music score tones. But the evil spirit itself is wonderfully singular in its ability to scare through subtle materialization (coming into sight in alarming manner, with slower paced emergence's more traumatizing than the rapid ones), its targeting of children and pattern of avoiding physical harm to adults, and most of all in its vengeful mission that cannot be appeased or calmed. She's a wronged poltergeist of legendary ill-omen stature and foreshadowing doom. She's not meant to be satisfied, but rather endured. The atmosphere in this movie is crisp, scary, unsettling, and chilling!! A terrific watch!!

9/10

it was pretty good. had some cheesy repetitiveness, but the spooky atmosphere and settings made up for that.

(8/10)

[CountOrlok]

Sounds interesting.. I still want to check out the original British tv version first, though.

[babagloom]

Originally Posted by Heathen

I'm surprised there's been so little mention of the child kills/suicides in this version. Apparently, that's no longer taboo, even in PG13.

Classic child death. Sigh....

[The Revelator]

I really enjoyed this movie!! Good old school feel to it, Radcliffe was excellent

8/10

[BeRightBack]

Loved this period piece. It's got outstanding atmosphere, and is hyper tense. Radcliffe blended perfectly, he wasn't oscar worthy, but he didn't stand out with horrible acting either. In fact if I didn't know he played Harry Potter for 8 films, then I probably wouldn't feel the need to comment on his performance, because it wasn't terrible. The ending to this movie..... I really felt it. Much more so than I'd say %95 of horror films I've seen.

[horror_movie_girl]

I although it had its moments overall I thought it was slow. I wish they would have focused more on him in the house rather than jumping back and forth from the house to the village.

[RomeroCarpenter Fan]

Originally Posted by BeRightBack

Loved this period piece. It's got outstanding atmosphere, and is hyper tense. Radcliffe blended perfectly, he wasn't oscar worthy, but he didn't stand out with horrible acting either. In fact if I didn't know he played Harry Potter for 8 films, then I probably wouldn't feel the need to comment on his performance, because it wasn't terrible. The ending to this movie..... I really felt it. Much more so than I'd say %95 of horror films I've seen.

nicely posted.

[voodoo_dolly]

Originally Posted by Dthecryptkeeper

Love the 1989 film, one of my all-time favorite ghost story films. The novel is an excellent read!

There's a book? Well I'm all over that. I've been wanting to see this even though I let Wikipedia spoil the whole thing for me.