Review 2: Women. Can't Live With 'Em. The End.

To my chewy gumdrops,

February is a strange month, no?  It has the fewest days, temperamental weather, and a globby awful holiday cleaved into the middle of it.  Fortunately for us lonely horror fans, the month kicked off hauntingly with the much anticipated:

"Harry Potter and the HOLY SHIT BEHIND YOU!"

Let me start off by saying that I'm going to leave a lot of plot points out of this review because a huge part of the enjoyment of this film involves the immersion into the ghost story as it progresses.  If you hate that part of the fun, go read a spoiler filled review.

Daniel Radcliffe takes on the role of Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer who is sent on an ominous job to clear a house of its paperwork.  I'm already trembling with excitement.  A widower, and single father, he feels no choice but to take the job to secure his position at the firm.  Upon reaching the remote village near his ultimate destination, everyone seems highly suspicious of his presence and tries to dissuade him from staying.  Since that would make a short movie, he travels through the marsh to Eel Marsh House to complete the task at hand.  He is immediately subjected to creaks, crows, and visions of children as well as the titular Woman in Black.  The story then turns a bit from haunted house/ghost story into a mystery as Arthur tries to unravel who she is, what she wants, and how to fix it.  Soon the villagers begin suffering from the side effects of Kipps' encounters with the Woman when their children begin dying one by one.  When they explain that this has been a problem in the past, it begs the question: Why didn't they try harder to get him out?  Luckily, Arthur makes friends early on with Sam Daily (Ciarán Hinds) who is the richest bloke in the village and owns a motor car!  Daily and his wife (the underused yet haunting, Janet McTeer) are separated from the village and live a more lush life yet had a son who was once the victim of the Woman.  After an exhausting investigation, Gumshoe Kipps decides to end the murders and keep his son from becoming a victim as well, all before the weekend.

 

Sequel: Black Friday

Right off the bat, the movie simply seemed too clean for the era which jarred my eye and made it hard for me to settle into the world.  Much of the film is set in a monochromatic grey scale with dreary blues in the village, but then assaults us with rich (though shadowed) colors inside Eel Marsh.  The movie sets off with a very Poe-esque vision and hero which immediately brought to mind the Vincent Price characters of old and I wondered if The Woman in Black would have benefited from being filmed in black and white.  When the movie embraces its old fashioned haunted house/ghost story roots, it thrives.  The use of depth in hallways and light mirror play brings out classic chills.  Arthur's first exploration of the house is very chilling and eerily calm, until director James Watkins lets the cheap jump thrills get in the way.  And uses them over and over again.  The following excursions of Kipps' scavenging through the house use repetition of the exact same shots without any over arching change in the house or Arthur himself.  There were many moments where I felt continuity was broken, the tiresome weight of the house could have pushed more on the protagonist, and organic scares would have worked more than shock.

75% of the movie.  The remaining 25%, he doesn't have lockjaw.

Don't get me wrong, the movie has some fine moments of thrilling spooks and well shot sequences.  The letters from Jennet to her sister are especially effective, and don't even get me started on that rocking chair.  Unfortunately, I spent much of the movie justifying the actions of characters, set decisions, and overall style.  That, to me, speaks a bit to the effectiveness of the overall storytelling.  Overall, it was exciting to see the return of the classical ghost story, but The Woman in Black tries a little too hard to please the target audience. Which, more disappointingly than anything, included the teenagers who laughed during every heartfelt moment at the movie theatre.  If only she'd gotten to them when they were younger.

Go with her, honey.  She has Werther's Originals.

2.5 out of 5 Bloody Pearls

Alright flesh petals, I will speak with you again as soon as I can. 
Love and curses,
AP