Slightly trimmed by the censors to get a 12A rating, The Woman in Black is nevertheless a nerve rattling gothic horror experience nigh-on guaranteed to cause sleepless nights. I’m pleased to report I have had at least one so far – a sign this film has done its job well.
Why the filmmakers wanted a more lenient rating for what is obviously a grown-up film is obvious: it stars Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter. Frankly, they might as well have left it uncut, as it still warrants a 15 rating even in its cut form. That way anyone foolish enough to bring the children would have been thwarted.
Based on the novel by Susan Hill and the long running stage play, this is a ghost story in the classic tradition, and what better studio to produce it than the recently reformed Hammer. The plot concerns Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), a recently bereaved lawyer assigned to sort through the papers left in a mysterious abandoned estate just off the mainland in the north of England. Terrified locals fearing the malevolent, vengeful ghost that supposedly lurks within its walls urge Kipps to return to London, but of course he doesn’t, because then there would be no story. To say much more would spoil the scares, suffice to say that if this is your cup of tea then you are in for a bone-chilling treat.
Watching Daniel Radcliffe, at first one does struggle to forget his recent performances as a certain boy wizard, and quite honestly he seems too young for the role. But after about fifteen minutes this ceases to be an issue as the creepiness begins. By the end, I was forced to concede that he was actually very good indeed.
The only other actor in the cast to make any significant impression is the excellent Ciaran Hinds. He plays the foolishly sceptical rich landowner Daily, who cannot accept the supernatural reasons for what is happening – even in the face of murdered children (including his own).
Director James Watkins (who was also responsible for such gut-churning horror outings as My Little Eye and the monumentally disturbing Eden Lake) gets out the usual haunted house box of tricks, brazenly making the audience jump out of their skin a ridiculous number of times. But despite such clichés, Watkins brings a genuine sense of unease to proceedings. The unnerving sight of the ghost moving around in the background of wide shots is properly nightmarish, as is a sequence involving a rocking chair that recalls The Changeling (the hugely underrated 1979 Peter Medak horror film, not the Clint Eastwood picture). Elsewhere there are nods to other giants of the haunted house genre, including The Innocents and Robert Wise’s version of The Haunting.
Jane Goldman’s screenplay adds a little hope into the finale in comparison to the book and play, but it’s still remorselessly bleak and unsettling. In fact, this is horror in the truest, purest sense of the word; not gory or violent per se, but a story that ruthlessly plays on that greatest of human fears: the safety of our children. That it does so with such dexterity is testament to the skill of the filmmakers.
On a spiritual note, obviously this is utter nonsense and more than a few Christians I know will raise objections. But darn it all – ghost stories are exciting. The very best of them are not only deeply scary, but like a great rollercoaster they make you feel alive. Since they are stories not sermons I don’t have a problem with their macabre thrills, provided they aren’t used as an excuse to promote anti-Christian messages. I have little time for people who moan about “theological inaccuracy” in the likes of A Christmas Carol, The Turn of the Screw and The Sixth Sense, but I will concede that a film like The Others – an otherwise excellent piece of work incidentally – was ruined for me by a clearly anti-Christian agenda.
The Woman in Black does not present me with such problems. The film is genuinely unsettling, and I appreciate it isn’t for everyone, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Simon Dillon, February 2012.
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