Woman in Black review

In London during Victorian times a young solicitor is suffering heartbreak after his wife dies during childbirth and his boss has told him he gets one more shot before he is fired.  Trusting his young son to a nanny he spends his week at the Eel Marsh House mansion sorting through paperwork left behind from a dead woman.  From the moment he steps into the mansion he is aware that he is not welcome as the children stare at him and the local solicitor attempts to convince him to turn around upon arrival.  However, the young solicitor, Arthur Kipps, knows that he must finish the job to keep his job even after he starts to see a ghost and wants nothing more but to run away.

The rumor is that the ghostlike woman maybe responsible for the deaths of the local children, but it’s not exactly clear and it’s quite possible that Arthur may be her next victim if he cannot get to the bottom of the matter.  This is the first film since Harry Potter that features Daniel Radcliffe, and Radcliffe does a suburb job as Arthur proving why he has such a cult following.  In fact, the film, titled Woman in Black, is actually quite satisfying to watch proving that some Britons under the age of thirty can actually act.  This is good news for Radcliffe given how many people have questioned his acting abilities outside of Harry.

It is also good news for those who are serious movie critics because it’s pretty much shared observation that at the beginning of the franchise Radcliffe was not really acting all that well.  As the series progressed he became a bit more competent but for anyone over the age of 13 he was not the type of actor that you rant and rave about.  Instead, most of Radcliffe’s respect came from the fact that he embodied the character that everyone loved to love and since it is hard to hate Harry its therefore hard to dislike Radcliffe.

The good news for all of those who have been rooting for him is that his newest film is actually not all that bad, and he really did give his debut performance after the Harry’s a formidable shot bringing his acting to a much higher level.  IN fact, in terms of being a performer and not an actor you have to respect just how much he visibly gave to the film because it’s obvious he spent a lot of time and energy getting into his role.

Throughout the Women in Black Daniel refuses to give up his honest portrayal of the solicitor until the very end when the tale is told and the audience knows the truth about the woman in the graveyard.  H may not pull off the role as a father very well, but he does manage to keep a consistent accent and carries his character well throughout the film making it a great British horror film that should be placed up there along with other notable greats such as Eden Lake or The Descent.

It is also a great comeback film for Hammer film studios and the publicity and financial gains of the horror flick will likely help bring them back up to a more stable position.  The supporting cast is well picked for the film and the concise plot is carefully written to elicit a few scares and jumps without giving away the ending.  In fact the unpredictable ending will help it stick with viewers perhaps making it a new memorable horror classic in a genre that could use a new classic hero to look towards.  Plus, at the very least it does at least prove that there is something to Radcliffe as an actor as well, and not just his ability to capture the heart of Potter fans.