Aspects I didn't like, but a decent horror flick.

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2012)

Okay, so just got back from seeing the Woman in Black. It's nothing spectacular, nothing terrible, but above average. So, it starts off with Daniel Radcliffe the widowed lawyer leaving his son with his nanny, who will both rejoin him in two days, to do work in a sleepy English town. This town is inhabited by a ghost, and whenever this ghost is spotted by anybody, a child dies. Radcliffe the widowed lawyer spends the night where the ghost's sister used to live, and discovered that the ghost's sister took care of the ghost's child, as she was seen as unfit to raise it. The child died, and the ghost killed herself. The ghost now controls the minds of children whenever she is seen and makes them commit suicide. We spend about 20 minutes in the haunted house with some pretty cool scares and back story, before moving onto the third act. This... is where it goes downhill. Radcliffe wants to reunite the ghost with her son, as the life of his own son hangs in the balance. He does this, and assumes that she is gone for good. His son and nanny arrive, but the son sees the ghost and jumps in front of a train. Radcliffe attempts to save him and they are both reunited with Radcliffe's wife.
The positives: It's a decent Halloween flick if you need one, and the premise is pretty damn interesting. The jump scares are pretty good, and it builds up legitimate suspense. The acting is pretty good too, except... we'll get to that. I also really enjoy the time spent in the house, as we find out about the ghost and of course, the scares are really good.
The negatives: Daniel Radcliffe and the ending. Am I the only one that thinks Radcliffe was stunningly miscast for this? He looks at least ten years too young for the part of a widowed lawyer, and frankly does not act 'scared' very well. There is a scene where Radcliffe tries to wrench a door open, and goes downstairs for an ax. When he comes back up, the door is opened. He acts as if this is completely normal! EMOTE, DAMMIT! And the ending: it is built up that the ghost will be set free once reunited with her son, and it is implied that Radcliffe will communicate with her. But instead, we get the cheap "he's reunited with the wife we never actually knew that well and don't care about" cop out. And also, Radcliffe lets go of his son's hand by a railway track in a town where there is a psycho ghost that wants to kill his child, and he has proof of this. Bad parenting or bad parenting?
However, the first two acts are a lot of fun, a fantastic thriller. However, some elements could certainly have been missed out, but for what it is, it's decent. I recommend seeing it on the big screen while it's there, so go and enjoy Radcliffe's latest non-Harry Potter project, guys. :)