Wednesday, 7 March 2012

The Woman in Black Review

The Woman in Black (2012)
 
Director James Watkins
 
 So, now that Potty Harry has finished, Daniel Radcliffe has traded the wizardry for ghosts in this James Watkins adaptation of Susan Hill's novel. Set at the turn of the 20th century, this Hammer horror finds the young father & lawyer (Radcliffe) shipped off to nowheresville to sort out some papers in an old house, and guess what? You guessed it, he sees a ghost, so rather than do what any normal human being would do (run like buggery!) he decides to investigate, which causes grief in the nearby village. Once he realises that every time he goes to the house a local child dies, what does he do? Go home? No, he goes back again trying to be a hero.
 
 
                                             Yes Daniel, its glass. we have been through this.
 
  To be honest, this film was advertised as 'scary' but the truth is, it just isn't. what it is in fact is what advertisers have been mistaking for scary for the last decade or so, 'jumpy'. The whole film consists of this woman (in black, no less) walking past the backdrop of the scenes, standing in dark corners, or just screaming in little Potter's expressionless face. I do however believe that the sets and costumes seem authentic (to what we judge as the period anyway) and the acting is not dreadful, but at the same time, completely forgettable, i mean Radcliffe, shows no emotion at all, he just lulls about being a nuisance like a stray dog. My main beef with The Woman in Black is the storyline. It seems to be that of a thousand haunted house films, novels and campfire stories created within the last two hundred years and I don't know about you, but I'm sick to death of them. Well anyway, this drivel starts to lag about halfway through and then seems to be over without any real explanation which left me confused, disappointed and wanting the last 90 minutes of my life back. Yes, It is good to see a British horror, but not one that just copies every ghost story ever. If you want a good British Horror, check out Heartless
 
4/10

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