And that is this 1989 movie which was first issued on VHS in 1997 and on DVD in 2000. Now an upgraded DVD and a new Blu-Ray have just been released in 2020. I am writing a review of the DVD because as I live in the United States, I have a Region 2 player but have yet to acquire one for Blu-Ray. I just recently watched it again and I continue to enjoy it more with each viewing.
There are only a handful of quality ghost stories that have been made into movies such as THE CHANGELING (1979), THE OTHERS (2001), and THE UNINVITED (1944 version). They are not for everyone and never have been. I find it amusing to read reviews that criticize this film and others like it for not being scary. It all depends on what you’re looking for. If you want more explicit horror rather than a ghost story, try the 2012 Hammer re-make which is good in its own right but it didn’t frighten me the way this one did.
The story is taken from a novel of the same name by Susan Hill. It concerns a young lawyer (Adrian Rawlings) who becomes haunted by a vengeful spirit while trying to close out an estate. The house used in the film plus the marsh setting are as much characters as are any of the principal humans. The acting, photography, and the screenplay by Nigel Kneale (creator of QUATERMASS) are all first rate. Only the music which occasionally borrows from PSYCHO is less than stellar.
As I said at the beginning, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is one of my litmus tests. Not only for ghost stories on video, but also as a somewhat arbitrary judge of character. Not liking this movie or not being affected by it doesn’t make you a bad person in any way but if you do like it then it means that you and I are of a similar mind and that we would get along famously.
The Capsule Critic 