Effectively jumpy ghost story with a few minor flaws.

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2012)

It is a common misconception that The Woman In Black is an example of Victorian literature, when in actual fact it is a novel by Susan Hill written in 1983 and set during Edwardian times. The book has been highly regarded since its publication, inspiring a long-running stage show by Stephen Mallatratt, a chilling TV movie in 1989, and several radio adaptations. It finally gets the big screen treatment thanks to screen-writer Jane Goldman and director James Watkins. The key question any audience will want to ask is:- have they done justice to this most celebrated of contemporary ghost stories? The answer is yes; on the whole this is an eerily effective bloodcurdler which cranks up an aura of dread and suspense, without resorting to gore and splatter.
Young lawyer Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is struggling with bills and facing the loss of his job. His wife died in childbirth, leaving him with the responsibility of bringing up their child. As the pressure mounts, Arthur is close to the edge and thoughts of suicide are never far from his mind. Then he gets a chance at redemption. In the remote north-eastern town of Crythin Gifford, an elderly lady has died and a lawyer is required to sort out her affairs, including the sale of her dilapidated mansion at Eel Marsh. Arthur accepts the assignment in order to re-establish himself as a reliable member of the firm. The mansion is on a small island at the end of a causeway, completely cut off from the mainland when the tide is in. Arthur is immediately struck by the aggression and hostility that greets him in the village. Things worsen when he goes to the mansion itself, where he is plagued by a series of malevolent sounds and happenings which cannot be explained in a rational manner. Slowly, Arthur learns that the villagers live in fear of The Woman In Black, a vengeful spectre with a score to settle against the whole community. He pieces together the shameful and tragic secrets of Crythin Gifford, and realises that somehow he must satisfy the furious ghost's hunger for revenge in order to set her soul to rest once and for all.
Let's get the bad points out of the way first. Radcliffe is rather miscast as Kipps, clearly too young to be believable as a suicidal lawyer with inner demons and a tragic past. His performance is quite good in all fairness, but he just doesn't suit the role. What we have here is an example of cynical studio execs exploiting an actor's fan base to raise the profile of their film, rather than casting the right actor for the part. Also disappointing is the absurd ending to the movie, altered somewhat from the book's ruthlessly bleak finalé and probably a good deal less unsettling as a result. Apart from that, The Woman In Black is a good, solid ghost story, crafted with an impressive eye for the macabre. Its aim is to build dread, to keep the viewer's stomach in knots, and its sets about achieving this goal with a relentlessness that is well sustained throughout. There are plenty of genuinely jumpy moments, and even a few sequences that could be described as truly scary (there is, I believe, a subtle difference between jumpy and scary). The film is put together slickly and professionally; an effective fireside scare-story which provides a welcome antidote to the increasing number of OTT gorefests presently swamping the genre.