Read the various reviews and you’ll find that, for the most part, people were either impressed or weren’t with THE WOMAN IN BLACK. Put me in the former category for I love a good ghost story and there are way too few in the movies. THE WOMAN IN BLACK does exactly what it sets out to do, give Daniel Radcliffe an adult post-HARRY POTTER role and create an old school Victorian style ghost story in the tradition of M. R. James.
I have never read Susan Hill’s book but I do have the 1989 TV-Movie that was adapted by Nigel Kneale (of QUATERMASS fame). That version stars Adrian Rawlings who, ironically, would play Harry Potter’s father James in the HP movies. I liked that version very much but have read that the author had issues with it. There are some changes including giving the characters different names. It was extremely well done for a TV film with one very effective jump-out-of-your-skin moment.
Back to this newest incarnation which is a co-production of the recently revived Hammer Films whose earlier efforts met with limited success. This WOMAN IN BLACK restores the characters’ names however it has numerous differences including changing the central character into a widower with a young son and beefing up a character (Janet McTeer) who somehow has a link to the beyond.
Young solicitor Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), whose wife died giving birth, is sent to a remote English village to tidy up the affairs of a recently deceased woman. Once there he is greeted with hostility by the locals and is befriended by the local squire (Ciarin Hinds). Staying in the decaying house that was her home, he is subject to strange sounds and visions that include a woman in mourning and a number of dead children. These are the children of the villagers who are systematically being driven to kill themselves by this woman. Why? That question is never answered.
Director James Watkins and screenwriter Jane Goldman have created an old school ghost story with all the classic elements. There are sudden sounds, quick cuts, and an effective music score that deliver some genuine shocks. There is a lengthy sequence in the middle of the film that runs for half an hour without any dialogue. The performances by the actors, are all first rate and this adds to the overall impact.
The one sequence of the film that I really didn’t like is the ending. I won’t give it away but it forgoes the central element of the Victorian ghost story. Once the wrong has been righted, the results should have been different. It is possible to interpret the ending as a thank you gift of sorts but in the commentary the filmmakers state that is not what they intended. Nevertheless
I found THE WOMAN IN BLACK to be flawed but worthwhile. It just misses taking its place along with THE INNOCENTS (1961), THE HAUNTING (1963), THE OTHERS (2001) and THE AWAKENING (2011) as one of the handful of great British cinematic ghost story adaptations. That is reserved for the 1989 version
The Capsule Critic 