Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Woman in Black Review - 3 Stars
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe begins his career as an adult in a classic haunted house tale. A Victorian lawyer grieving the death of his wife and raising his young son on his own, he struggles in his law firm and gets a last chance assignment to travel to a distant village and sort out the final papers of a dead woman. The house sits atop a frightening marsh near a village where the settlers call the house and its occupants haunted. Radcliffe sees a ghostly woman in black and as predicted a child in the village dies. the movie takes its time and serves up a series of chilling images—shadows moving in the background reflected in mirrors, spirits coming up behind Radcliffe, candles snuffing themselves out, dead children and a body rising from the marsh. Just when our hero thinks he has a plan to straighten out the curse, “The Woman in Black” dishes up a thrilling twist—appropriate to an evening of screams and gasps and the laughter than follows. Does it deliver what it promises? Standard issue haunted house tale. Is it entertaining? Very fun to watch but scary. Is it worth the price of admission? Just for the thrill of it.