The Woman In Black

Daniel Radcliffe, Roger Allam

Directed by James Watkins

Rating: B-

Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) is a single father trying to keep providing for his young son. Arthur is a lawyer and has to travel to a secluded village to finish up surveying an empty house after the tenants had died. His son is due to arrive in the village a few days later, accompanied by the nanny. The villagers are upset with Arthur disturbing the peace, as they believe that the house Arthur is to inspect is haunted. Whoever sees the "woman in black" brings danger to the villagers, as she causes the children of the area to die. After staying in the home to finish up work, Arthur begins to notice the woman in black and tries to find a way to help her move on before she decides to take his own son.

A fun scare, "The Woman In Black" is not a very serious horror movie. While it does give in to suspense and scenes that make you jump in your seat from fear, the movie itself is not that scary. The plot is kind of simple: villagers hate Arthur, Arthur sees the woman in black, Arthur tries to figure out why she is haunting the place. "The Woman In Black" does a good job with setting up the scenes but it lacks the necessary scare factor to make it really feel like it deserves to be called a horror film. For example, more scare scenes would have made this movie better like seeing the dead children or the woman in black more. Having toys wind up on their own and the rocking chair make noise is a good start for a creepy scene.

Radcliffe is the main star of the film. He definitely knows how to break out of the mold and shake off being forever labeled as "the guy that played Harry Potter". His portrayal of the widowed father showed how versatile he can be. I think I would go so far as to say that Radcliffe is one of the main reasons I liked the film. He's probably also the main reason many people went to go see it. "The Woman In Black" didn't earn much in the box office, so hopefully Radcliffe will move on to other projects. As it is, he is currently filming another period-piece due to premier in 2013. Let's just cross our fingers that period-pieces will not be all he will work on. (Though personally I love period-pieces, I'd like to see him try a comedy or drama, let him break out of the "Harry Potter" mold.)

I believe "The Woman In Black" is worth seeing if you're brave enough. I think it would be a fun movie to get friends together and watch in a dark room at night. This movie is not one to take seriously so if you enjoy suspenseful movies, add this to your movie list!