Rent The Woman in Black (2012)

Very Creepy Haunted House Film - The Woman in Black review by GI

In his first film role after the Harry Potter series Daniel Radcliffe is just right as a grieving young lawyer in this Hammer production of the celebrated novel by Susan Hill. This is just what you want in a ghost story. A Victorian English setting on a fog bound marsh with suspicious locals and a very creepy haunted house. And the film is a simple, quintessential haunted house story that really works, it doesn't rely on gore or 'cattle prod' shocks it creates a creepy atmosphere, gives you glimpses of something sinister every so often and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps who is grieving for his wife who died in childbirth four years earlier. He dotes on his young son but his distracted mental state has put him in difficulty with his firm. As a last chance to show he wants his career he is sent to the north of England to close the estate of an elderly widow recently died. On arrival he finds the locals are suspicious of him and unhelpful but it's only when Arthur has to spend time in the old woman's mansion positioned on the edge of a tidal marsh that he discovers the dark past of the house and why the village folk are so frightened. As a fan of the novel and the earlier TV adaptation too I still recommend this and urge anyone not to make comparisons. This film keeps the shocks restrained and any reveals are limited and carefully introduced, which gives it a real spooky feel. Great story and a perfect English ghost film.

Classic British Film Of Hammer Fame - The Woman in Black review by D C

What to say about this film refreshingly scary without $100million dollars worth of electrickery............good acting great screenplay costumes pathos its got the lot ............after seeing the stage play i wasnt expecting that to be topped but this does it well done all lets hope it wins everything out there

Gothic Harry Potter - The Woman in Black review by CP Customer

This ticks all the boxes for the old fashioned ghost shocker; decaying dark house, the death of children, the mad woman (women?) in the attic. It's quite well written and very well played, D Radcliffe doing his best, which is jolly good in the circs, and all other participants handing in a workmanlike performance.

Trouble is, for me it was simply an extended ghost train ride, scary but almost predictable. I can well imagine all the HP fans squealing and clutching each other as their darling struggles with a combination of the mother from hell and the original castrating woman. If you like this kind of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like

Commendable effort - The Woman in Black review by CB

Having seen this story on the stage, I was expecting the film to take me to new heights of ghostly scariness. Apart from when the face appeared at the window at close quarters, nothing much scared me. In fact, the theatre production was more scary. Radcliffe was good.