The Woman in Black

source: The Woman in Black

I'd heard about this movie a while ago from a friend and she recently got it on DVD. There was a lot of anticipation and excitement as we'd both heard that this was a terrifying film, really scary. How disappointed was I?? VERY!!!! Apart from that one scene (we all know which bit) NOTHING happened!!! I was expecting to see the woman in black a few times and for her to do a few more jumpy scenes, like appear at the window or walk across the hall or something. Nearly all the reviews here say what a scary, gripping, atmospheric movie this is. I just didn't see it I'm afraid. Maybe there's a difference in what people find scary in the US to here in Britain. A big let down after all the hyped reviews :(

I had watched a stage rendition of this popular ghost story while in London in the Summer of 2002; it was one of the highlights of that particular stay and I still vividly recall many of its cleverly-staged scary effects. Consequently, I was looking forward to this well-regarded TV adaptation – especially given the screen writing credit of Nigel Kneale (who seems curiously constricted by the material); however, I was somewhat let down by it – for one thing, the flat TV style and uninspired, rather low-key approach prevented one's full engagement in the ongoing drama and, while it was intermittently eerie (such as the scene at the cemetery and, in particular, the visitation in the bedroom), it seemed to miss a couple of tricks which constituted some of the best jolts in the stage version I had seen (and which had even thrown a couple of Asian members of the audience sitting in front of me into sheer hysterics every so often!) – notably the woman appearing out of nowhere sitting in a rocking-chair. Another thing which has been left out here is the fact that the curse of The Woman In Black would be visited upon the hero (or, more specifically, his son) on his return home; besides, it didn't seem to me that her back-story was dealt with in sufficient detail either! Mind you, the film is still well enough done – with utmost care applied to the sets (obviously, the stage production could never truly replicate the feel of the remote location), the sound design and even the unsettling make-up. At the end, I'm sure people who haven't experienced this live, so to speak, would be more receptive to it: in fact, most reviews I've read seem to describe this particular version of THE WOMAN IN BLACK as among the very best (and scariest) of its kind ever – I'd definitely agree where the play is concerned but, for me, the TV version somehow comes up lacking in comparison.

I really miss the production of good old fashion Spooky films. If Ismail Merchant and James Ivory had been given the task of producing such a film it may have been this one, save for the lack of an internationally known, top drawer cast. This is one of those films that you watch alone on a dark evening with a pizza and some popcorn, and you don't even bother doing the dishes until morning because you just want to hide under the covers. Bravo to Director Herbert Wise, Writers Susan Hill and Nigel Kneale, top Production design by Jon Bunker, Art Direction by John Ralph and an excellent cast for making me shudder and feel so isolated even though I'm living in one of the most populated cities in the world in the beginning of the 21st Century. I gave it a "9" out of "10" because with the production and budget constraints of television, they really pulled of a great show.

I remember watching this when i was around 15 and it really did scare me, obviously if you watch it in broad daylight with other people talking it will not scare you much, but watch it in the right way and it will. If your a fan of horror films that don't contain lots of blood and guts (which I like, but they don't scare me in the slightest) then this is for you. It is the scariest film I've ever seen, the only thing that has come close to it is the stage adaptation of the book which is great. Now its not perfect, but with th money they had and when it was made its as good as it could have been. Actually looking forward to the 2012 adaptation, don't think it will be as well done but still looking forward to it.

The Woman in Black, which is about a solicitor who was sent to a supposedly haunted house to settle a woman's estate after she died, is a good example of a classic bone-chilling ghost story. Although it is evident the movie was shot on a limited budget, the minimal special effects actually add to its merit. The Woman in Black centres its atmospheric horror factor on subtlety and feelings of suspense and dread, rather than CGI or gore. Shot in England, the setting couldn't have been more perfect. The house that is the core of the movie is fittingly eerie and inspires feelings of fear and anxiety, as a good haunted house should. The music creates a heart-pounding mood that magnetically draws you to the edge of your seat and causes you to watch the rest of the film through the cracks between your fingers. It is the perfect accompaniment to the terrifying events both on screen and in your imagination. The acting is as understated as the rest of the movie, yet the talented actors make it very easy for viewers to be transported into the world of the supernatural and never doubt it once. This movie definitely deserves the cult following it has acquired, which is made complicated due to the fact that there are no new legitimate copies being sold. Although this could have been just another low budget made-for-TV movie, The Woman in Black is a new, refreshing take on the old "things going bump in the night" idea.

This adaptation of Susan Hill's book made for television is not a big budget CGI fest and is all the better for it. Nigel Kneale's screen play has a delicate touch and allows us to be gently taken along as if ourselves are traveling like Mr Kidd in the train carriage and are placed in an otherwise sleepy little East coast village that has hardly acknowledged any change in a hundred years. Rather than a hammed-up Gothic caricature, this is presented in true Gothic style. We are aware of the absence of city noise, the sound of cars and trains replaced by silence broken by the cry gulls that can sound like the cry of a baby. Dark, fog shrouded days and chill, remote coastal nights. Rachel Portman's score weaves calmly but unnervingly through the sea mists accompanied by the desolate caw of raven and crow that hover over the tilted old headstones and low stone walls. The story is told at the pace of the world that was disappearing every where else at the beginning of the 20th century like a tale recounted by the fire late at night. It is a story of a young middle class man who, at ease with life and the developing new technology around him is suddenly taken out of this familiar environment and made to face the world where the curse of an evil woman still holds sway and kept watch for like sea frets and the danger of the marshes if traveling to the house that lays beyond them. This film begins by showing us an early twentieth century world that now,along with the railway has the motorcar and electric light. There is even featured an early recording device. However, out here in the house beyond the marsh, Mr Kidd knows that the rail tracks can only reach so far and the motor car is no good on the causeway, electric lights can fail. Then, like the eldritch façade of Eel Marsh House, like the devil standing upright in the day,an apparition of a woman dressed in black makes her claim and there is nothing to stand between him and the spectre that has haunted and terrified a generation. Then the darkness begins to fall. Adrian Rawlins is fine as the besieged and tormented Aurther Kidd but it is Bernard Hepton who steals this show as Mr Sam Toovey the rich businessman who befriends Arthur and becomes the steady rock amid the chaos. I believe this film is far superior to the new Daniel Radcliffe film adaption because of all the above. For me there are moments of genuine tension and one scene in particular that in-spite of my being a grown man, had my hair standing on end. We are treated here to a story being told like a tale by the campfire where, at the end of its telling, we perhaps hear something else amid the cry of the gulls and we are dared to peer through the windows of an old house in the marshes and maybe glimpse The Woman in Black. RH. Film quote:'You're a brave lad and no mistake, but your not brave enough….no one could be.

I've only seen this movie once in my life and have never forgotten it. I was thirteen years old and a teacher showed it in class on Halloween. I had to leave the classroom and have never, ever, forgotten the Woman in Black's face. The big climax scene is beyond frightening, as can be expected, but I found the earlier scenes to be just as terrifying. The general tone of the film leaves you unsettled, even when nothing particularly scary is occurring. It is very, very subtle, but no other film has ever had quite such an effect on me. If you think ghosts are scarier than slasher movies, I would definitely recommend this movie. Unless you hate being scared. In that case, don't ever watch this.

Two things I'd like to know from those folks who find this movie terrifying: What were you on when you watched it, and where can I get some? Honestly, this is one of the lamest "horror" films I've ever suffered through. The film is lacking in anything resembling atmosphere, and I'm not saying that because of its low budget or lack of special effects; I'm no fan of overblown special effects myself. But this movie is simply pedestrian film-making. There's about as much atmosphere here as in your average episode of ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, which is what this movie most closely resembles on a visual level. It just feels like an overlong TV show, the kind in which you'd expect Nancy Drew and a bunch of her girlfriends to show up and solve the juvenile mystery. As for the title spirit, I'm sorry, but a woman with pasty makeup and lots of eye shadow glaring at me from a distance isn't exactly the stuff of nightmares for me. And as for that big shock scene that everyone mentions, I laughed aloud. She looked and sounded like Carol Kane doing Grandmama in ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES. I watched the movie with someone who usually jumps out of her seat at anything the least bit spooky, and her reaction throughout the film was, "You heard THIS was scary"? In short, very young kids who want to experience a harmlessly "scary" movie might get a few giggly shudders from this, but I really can't imagine a grownup being scared unless they have such a pathological fear of ghosts that the mere mention of one sends them into a fit. If you're the average adult reading all these rave reviews, and thinking, "Hmmm... I wonder if it really IS as scary as everyone says"?, trust me: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME; IT'S NOT.