Dimmly lit snooze fest, literally almost fell asleep multiple times

Rating: 2/10 (12 April 2012)

First off, this movie probably would've been more entertaining if Harry Potter was the main character. It's not like we weren't all picturing it already as we watched this, and honestly I would have rather watched the boy wizard romp around looking for clues to the ghostly mystery than watch boring Arthur Kipps try to. I was so excited to see this movie, as the trailers looked genuinely creepy, the set design looked spot-on, and I was intrigued by Daniel Radcliffe playing anyone but Harry. What I thought would be a dark throwback to the classic haunted house ghost stories of old indeed was just that, only a very poorly executed one. This movie really is just one big waste of a plot, a waste of the cast and crews effort, and a waste of my (and everyone else who went to see this snooze fest)time.
The plot is an awesome classic horror movie plot. A young businessman travels to do business, and in the process discovers strange occurrences in and around the house in which he is saying. He soon learns of the history of the town, and sets out to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Yep, I thought it sounded entertaining too. It first hit me about 20 minutes in, when I began to realize I had been watching Radcliffe walk around since I sat down. Yes, it really does take a good 30 minutes before anything remotely interesting happens. And from there, it only continues to drag along at a snails pace. The scares are effective at points, weak at others. I was genuinely startled only twice the entire movie, and had trouble staying awake for the duration of it. This was the result of a combination of the near pitch-black lighting of the film and the crawling, dragging, stagnant pace of it. Also, stick-in-the-mud Kipps might possibly be the most uninteresting protagonist in horror movie history.
All in all, this movie is a waste. There is nothing positive that I can find to be said about this film. The only bright spot is the beautifully creepy house, the set design really as a whole is exceptional. Also, the movie shows that it is capable of inducing fear, but chooses not too in favor of jump-scares and quick disturbing images. The horror genre has reached a new era. The era is dominated by the found-footage sub-genre, and there has been a found-footage flick for just about every plot. I thought The Woman in Black would be the film that revamped the classic era, the era of straight up creepy ghost stories/haunted house thrillers. In reality, it was the film that made me lose almost all hope in the current state of the horror genre. The ideas are clearly running out, and I'm afraid that the genre might be on it's last legs. I hope I'm wrong, and that this film is simply a mishandled mistake and not an omen for whats to come for the genre. One things for sure though, The Woman in Black is a poor,poor film, and will soon be forgotten about and disregarded.
Overall: 2.5/10