2. Take a few creepy looking children and film them in drab, shadowy lighting.
3. Throw in some well-crafted CGI effects.
4. Finally stir together with some music designed to amp-up the tension...
Now don't worry if the plot starts to look a little thin because the CGI and suspense will cover for that...and voi-la...
"The Woman in Black"...
The story sees solicitor Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) travelling to a remote Northern village to settle the affairs of a deceased client. Once there he receives a less than friendly welcome from the villagers who clearly want him to leave. In spite of this he presses on and arrives at the isolated and run-down Eel Marsh House; complete with it's cobwebs and paintings of dreary-faced former occupants, the property even boasts its own cemetery....surely nothing bad could happen here...
Truthfully this is not my favourite genre of film. Personally I can handle the blood and guts that accompany most horror films, and I find serial killers and human violence fascinating, but give me a well told ghost story and some paranormal activity and my spine turns to jelly! That said, I did manage to sit through it, (albeit behind laced fingers part of the time) and besides an incident with my cat jumping on the bed in the middle of the night I suffered very few after effects from it...
The film had everything working for it, from the casting to the light-direction to the abundance of creepy children, but after the initial hit of fear you start to analyse the plot and things just don't add up: After the first incident in the house, even the most inept viewer is silently screaming "don't go back to the house" (but where would any horror/thriller be if the lead character behaved in a rational manner??) The whole story seemed to lack much plot development and flow, choosing instead to concentrate on increasing the tension with yet another ghostly incident. However, perhaps the worst piece of plot development came when Radcliffe decides to take a late night swim in the boggy water by the house. It's difficult to go into more detail without also providing a spoiler alert, but what character, in their right mind, would do that...at night...in the pitch black...with very little idea of the conclusion?
So, how did Daniel Radcliffe's first cinematic offering since the "Harry Potter" series, fair? Well, it was lovely to see an all-British cast in a British film, for a change, and Radcliffe held his own for the most part, but for me Jane Goldman's adaptation from the novel didn't flow as well as it could, so over-all worth a watch but not likely to be making any top 10 lists.
Year of release: 2012
Genre: Drama / Horror / Thriller
Director: James Watkins
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciaran Hinds
Rating: 3.5/5
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