The Woman in Black

It is quite rare you will find me watching a horror movie. It’s even less likely in the theater. I find horror to be a strange genre, which targets emotions not meant to be expressed through entertainment. But I saw The Woman in Black. If any of a thousand different actors played the lead, I likely would have passed, but Daniel Radcliffe’s first film role post-Harry Potter drew me in. The story follows a young lawyer (Radcliffe) who travels to a country village on a job and encounters the ghost of woman who has long been terrifying the residents. Every time the ghost, who is known as the woman in black, is seen, a local child is killed in a mysterious way. Being the father of a young boy, these events resonate strongly with him. Though I dare you to watch a girl burn herself alive and then not be affected by it.

Since the film doesn’t take place in modern times and the horror is more from haunting rather than gruesome murder, it wasn’t unwatchable scary. It was very creepy, however. The script is interesting, well developed and most importantly aware of the film around it. There are moments where there could be more characters or more history, but it’s not necessary. The film runs just over 90 minutes, which proves to be the prefect length.

Radcliffe gives a solid performance on par with that of the two part Harry Potter finale. I imagine horror fans will be happy with the startling scenes and those who like less frightful dramas would also appreciate the story that is built. So, it would seem that I chose the right film to break my ban on horror movies. It is intriguing, interesting and no nightmares to speak of. With Radcliffe doing so well, The Woman in Black could use some more Harry Potter in the story… but then again, so could all movies.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.