The Woman in Black [Guest Writer] (5 Stars)

With a remake coming in February, and my own curiosity of this movie for some time, I decided to watch The Woman in Black last night. I can be a bit picky when it comes to horror/thriller movies, as modern movies usually prefer to go for the simple formula of tension build-up, followed up by finding either nothing or a quick unrelated scare followed up by the monster/killer. In my opinion this is a somewhat lazy way of handling scares, which doesn't really get to me. However, The Woman in Black certainly did...

The movie is an adaptation of a 1983 book by Susan Hill, as well as a stage production that has been running since 1987 (Now the second longest running play in the history of London's West End). The story is about a man named Arthur Kidd, a solicitor sent to Crythin Gifford, a small town on the coast of the UK to attend the funeral of Alice Drablow and then handle the organization of her estate in Eel Marsh. While in the church during the funeral, and afterwards in the cemetary, Arthur sees a mysterious woman in black watching him (Seen in the image above). As Arthur goes about the town, the people he speaks to about the house have this odd silence to them about certain facts, as well as any mentions of the Woman he saw. Throughout his time at the house, there is more sightings of the woman along with horrifying noises of some sort of accident that occoured out in the marsh. As Arthur continues to delve into Alice Drablow's things to find answers for what's happening, things continue to build, culminating in a very creepy climax to the film.

This is quite the interesting horror film that plays with your mind and keeps you on edge. Arthur Kipps makes for an excellent protagonist, beind someone that the audience can easily relate and sympathise with as he's led in the dark by the townspeople's silence concerning the house's history and the Woman. The Woman makes for a very unsettling sight as well. With no real special effects in the movie, it takes on a very realistic approach, giving the makeup work of a pale face and sunken eyed, piercing stare that sticks with you throughout her appearances. The fact that for the majority of her appearance she simply stands and stares adds to the unsettling nature, reminding me of the modern amateur video series of the Slenderman on youtube (Which is another character I also reccomend reading about and viewing the video series Marble Hornets, EverymanHYBRID, and Tribe Twelve).

I highly reccomend a viewing of this film as I don't think it will dissapoint. It's certainly made me curious to see the upcoming remake by Hammer Horror in February with Daniel Radcliffe. As an interesting side-note, Daniel will be taking over Adrian Rawlins' role as the protagonist Arthur, who had played his father during the Harry Potter series. Quite the interesting coincidence...