No Comparison to the Original

Rating: 2/10 (9 February 2012)

I'm not quite sure why they decided to remake this film - it's not really a remake when you change some of the storyline. I consider the 1989 version to be right up there in my top 5 all time scariest films, along with the original "The Haunting" and "The Legend of Hell House". I sat in the movie theater last weekend clutching the arm of the seat several times expecting to jump and was let down more often then not. No offense to Mr. Radcliffe, but it seemed like he was just going through the motions in this film. If you haven't yet seen it, stop reading - there are some "spoilers" in here. First, the name of the young attorney was Arthur Kidd, not Kipps - second, he was not a widower, which in the original was the whole point of how the picture ended. Third, the actress who actually played the Woman in Black was so much scarier to me than whatever special effects ghost the studio could have ever come up with. If the studios ever decide to put the original back on the big screen I think people who really enjoy an old-fashioned ghost story would cheer. I encourage anyone who's seen this "remake" to rent the original and you'll see what I'm trying to say - much like "The Manchurian Candidate",you don't mess with perfection.