The Woman in Black

The fog thickens, the water rises, dead faces peek out from behind bushes, and the sound of a rocking chair brings back goosebumps in memories, even in places we don't talk about. Daniel Radcliffe plays in a very captivating way, and in anticipation of all his critics, I had to smile from the beginning that he portrays Arthur in a way that doesn't even remind you of Harry. Although he doesn't keep the peace with train rides to places full of ghosts, don't expect the Nearly Headless Nick. As long as an unknown silhouette turns in the background, everything is pleasantly chilling, but when a face appears in the window or a mark is left on the glass, my stomach shrinks to unpleasantly small dimensions. The Woman in Black is most bound by a relatively cliché plot premise that faces a tough choice in the end. Whether to bring a happy ending, which could be considered cliché, or to intensify the organ music and face the risk of an overdone ending. The viewer must see for themselves how it turned out, but the film as a whole, thanks to truly unexpectedly impressive moments and the feeling of "if you go back into that house, I'll turn it off right away," convincingly stands its ground. (03/14/2012)

James Watkins completely flipped the script when he went from aggressive teenagers to a classic art nouveau ghost story. Yet he definitely reached the heights of his reputation set by his first film because it washes over the viewer with such vigor that I wondered where the hell the man had been all these years when everyone was crying about the genre's decline. It's quite a cool thing to scare audiences so predictably yet with the kind of cheekiness and implacability in which little children die, and the mystery unravels rapidly. Meanwhile, the film maintains deliberate British detachment and slight distance. It's only kept from perfection by the miscast Radcliffe who - nothing against his performance - just hasn't grown up enough for such a role yet. Otherwise, I give a deep bow to the director. 4 ½. (03/08/2012)

I hadn't seen such an impressive and mysterious horror in a long time since Amenábar's film The Others, and I have to say that this one really pleased me. It's actually nothing groundbreaking, but it's pleasant to see someone successfully returning to the foundations of the genre. The film doesn't experiment and sticks to proven filmmaking techniques, Watkins' direction is reliable and precise even in the details. The director knows when to use a jump scare and when to let the camera capture impressive images of gloomy nature and interiors marked by human malice. I didn't have a problem with anything about the film and nothing got in the way or stood out or annoyed me. Even the ending, which may have disappointed some viewers, fits into the thinking of the late Victorian era and similarly toned literary stories. When you think about it, everyone ends up where they belong. Overall impression: 90%. (04/04/2017)

A simple horror story in the beautiful settings of an English seaside village. I didn’t mind the lack of originality and the simplicity of the plot (Hammer has never made intellectual and sophisticated films), what I did mind, though, is that in such beautiful setting, all the film can do to generate fear is to use cheap jump-scares that follow the template of “show anything” + “raise the volume”. Visually, I enjoyed it very much, both the haunted house and the village, but the fear hardly shows up at all. One look at the woman in black in the more than 20 year-old TV adaptation made me tremble in terror a lot more than all those jump-scares put together. Daniel Radcliffe delivers a decent performance. The climax was disappointing, just like a couple of very unconvincing scenes (the lady with the dogs, the bird in the boarding house). I’m giving it 7/10. I liked The Woman in Black, but unfortunately, with all the aforementioned reservations. I expected something great, but it doesn’t come close to that. (02/24/2012)

Very pleasantly surprised. The beginning is boring gibberish during which snappy lines referencing Potter spring to mind, but the atmosphere thickens, mud starts flying, dead children start appearing... the shocking moments are very, very effective. Danny acts well, the fact is that he isn’t old enough to play the father, but at least he has the balls to shake off that magician’s cape, I’m sure his erstwhile fans will certainly go to see his films in any case. And a superb ending, even if a little predictable. (03/01/2012)