A noble effort.

Rating: 6/10 (31 December 2014)

In one of his first "grown up" roles, actor Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe stars as Arthur Kipps, the young, widower father of a four year old son. His sorrow over his wife's death has put his job as a lawyer in jeopardy, and his boss gives him a last chance assignment. He is to go over the affairs of an eccentric, recently deceased lady who lived in an isolated locale known as Eel Marsh. Area residents, in the tradition of many a horror story, treat him with distrust, are very cagey about the tragedies in their past, and are quite superstitious. The only person who really makes friends with him is the solicitous Sam Daily (Ciaran Hinds).
In this second adaptation of the 1983 novel by Susan Hill, director James Watkins ("Eden Lake") does his able best to give us a traditional Gothic horror film. It's no surprise that one of the companies behind this production is Britains' famed Hammer Studios, as this kind of thing was their bread and butter for many years. This feature has got TONS of atmosphere - this viewer totally digs that main location, which can only be accessed by a long and winding road that gets flooded at some point every day. Marco Beltrami supplies a good music score, and Watkins & crew do well at creating some real tension.
However, there are aspects to this that may simply not work for all members of the audience. The whole scenario seems awfully familiar by this point, at least for those who have seen lots of horror from all time periods. Also, much like the 1981 slasher "The Prowler" and the 2009 throwback feature "The House of the Devil", the running time is filled with perhaps a few too many sequences of a character exploring an old dark house. The use of visual effects isn't overwhelming, but Watkins goes the easy route a little too often with the use of jump scares. At least we never get too good a look at our restless, antagonistic spirit.
Radcliffe is adequate in the lead, but is overshadowed by the wonderful Hinds and the equally strong Janet McTeer as Daily's wife. It's really Hinds that makes this worth a look.
At the very least, the ending is one that some viewers may not see coming. This is competently made, and sufficiently creepy if never all-out frightening.
Six out of 10.