Woman in Black is gold

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2012)

For someone who has read the book, watched the stage play and briefly seen the TV adaptation, I had high hopes for this movie as soon as I knew it was being released. Wasn't sure about Radcliffe but I was willing to give it a chance, and I am now prepared to say I was wrong to doubt him. He carries this film extremely well and I totally forgot he was Harry Potter in former life. Fair enough there were a few 'wooden' moments but in all, his expressions and acting was faultless. The movie itself was at just the right pace. An eerie slow burner, making the audience tense and always looking for when the next scare will be. There were a fair few jump moments that many people criticised but for me, they were needed in a film like this. There were plenty of eerie spine chilling moments too that didn't need the use of a jump scare, so they evened each other out.
It was pretty loyal to the book, apart from a few minor details, and of course the ending is totally different. But the premise of the movie stayed the same. The ending for me was a good idea, but it lacked the shock factor that I believe it needed for my 8/10 to rise to 9/10. It left me feeling a little disappointed.
The sets, scenery, acting and the house especially were fantastic. The woman also doesn't disappoint. When seen, she got the whole Cinema screaming, something I have never seen in a Cinema ... Even Paranormal Activity 1 & 2.
Overall, the movie was very good. Didn't scare me, but it certainly made me jump and gave me the creeps. Disappointed with the ending, but there were plenty of well done scenes (Rocking Chair moment especially) to make up for it.