A real shocker

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2014)

The Woman In Black is an authentic thriller/shocker with doom dark photography. It has the most convincing rotting mansion, set in a terrifying location of black mud, and with the added isolation of the sea cutting off the mainland twice a day. On that mainland is a true village of the damned; there is a curse on children, and the despairing inhabitants seem entirely accursed. To be convincing, horror must have good acting. This film has no tongue in cheek performances; it is superbly acted by Daniel Radcliffe and Ciaran Hinds. There are good actors in the background too, such as Janet McTeer, David Burke and Roger Allam. This was the real scary thing, aided by brilliant set dressing with some well used and sinister clockwork toys. An effective horror film? An involving thriller? Yes, definitely. The director casts a dingy light over the film, enhancing the feelings of the young lawyer, down on his luck and threatened with redundancy. The matter-of- fact assessment of his superior, Roger Allam, was chilling. Daniel Radcliffe is outstanding. I have never watched any of the Potter films, so this was the first time I'd seen him. He shines in the good company around him, which is a hard task. He is undoubtedly a convincing performer. I was pleased to see the word HAMMER on the start credits. The Hammer pedigree includes some dreadful crap but it also had remarkable success with Dracula, The Wickerman, and my favourite, The Witchfinder General. Hammer used good actors such as Ian Ogilvy, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Melissa Stribling was gorgeous, and probably not a bad actress, but all I really recall of her is her sex appeal. I would have bitten her in the neck anytime. With the modern cgi effects used to shocking effect in this film, it made me wonder how those earlier films would now be improved.