The Woman in Black (2012)

A young lawyer travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.

Director:

James Watkins

Writers:

Susan Hill (novel), Jane Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Emma Shorey, Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emma Shorey	...	Fisher Girl
Molly Harmon	...	Fisher Girl
Ellisa Walker-Reid	...	Fisher Girl
Sophie Stuckey	...	Stella Kipps
Daniel Radcliffe	...	Arthur Kipps
Misha Handley	...	Joseph Kipps
Jessica Raine	...	Nanny
Roger Allam	...	Mr. Bentley
Lucy May Barker	...	Nursemaid
Indira Ainger	...	Little Girl on Train
Andy Robb	...	Doctor
Ciarán Hinds	...	Daily
Shaun Dooley	...	Fisher
Mary Stockley	...	Mrs. Fisher
Alexia Osborne	...	Victoria Hardy

Storyline

In London, lawyer Arthur Kipps still grieves the death of his beloved wife Stella on the delivery of their son Joseph four years ago. His employer gives him a last chance to keep his job, and he is assigned to travel to the remote village of Cryphin Gifford to examine the documentation of the Eel Marsh House that belonged to the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow. Arthur befriends Daily on the train and the man offers a ride to him to the Gifford Arms inn. Arthur has a cold reception and the owner of the inn tells that he did not receive the request of reservation and there is no available room. The next morning, Arthur meets solicitor Jerome who advises him to return to London. However, Arthur goes to the isolated manor and soon he finds that Eel Marsh House is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a woman dressed in black. He also learns that the woman lost her son drowned in the marsh and she seeks revenge, taking the children of the scared locals.

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Plot Keywords:

village | house | lawyer | marsh | ghost | 

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Taglines:

Do you believe in ghosts?

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material and violence/disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

UK Canada Sweden

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

La dama de negro

Filming Locations:

The Causeway to Osea Island, Maldon, Essex, England

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,874,072 (USA) (3 February 2012)

Gross:

$54,322,273 (USA) (27 April 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cross Creek Pictures, Hammer Film Productions, Alliance Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 20 mins) Arthur opens the curtains and the light reveals three statuette monkeys. These are the Japanese "three wise monkeys," Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru, who "see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil." Although their origins (and the phrase accompanying them) are disputed, it is generally believed that they are part of a Japanese (particularly Buddhist) "Golden Rule" to avoid spreading evil.

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Goofs

In the last scene, the train has a post-grouping (1923) Class G headcode (light loco), but it should have a pre-grouping Class A (express passenger) headcode.

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Quotes

Daily: Don't go chasing shadows, Arthur.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Woman in Black (2012)

User Reviews

Old fashioned spooker delivering on its perilous period promise.

The Woman in Black is directed by James Watkins and adapted to screenplay by Jane Goldman from Susan Hill's novel of the same name. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds and Janet McTeer. Music is scored by Marco Beltrami and cinematography by Tim Maurice-Jones. Plot has Radcliffe as young London solicitor Arthur Kipps, who is sent to the North East village of Crythin Gifford to clear up the affairs of deceased woman Mrs. Drablow. When he arrives he finds that the memory of Drablow, and her remote house of Eel Marsh, holds the village in a grip of fear, particularly those who have children.....

It's fitting that that bastion of British horror, Hammer Studios, should be behind this delightful period ghost story. For this positively oozes old fashioned values, harking back to all those wonderful spookers set around a creepy village that featured an even creepier castle or mansion at its core. More presently, the film has kindred links to the likes of The Orphanage, The Others and The Changeling, while the vengeful spirit acting out of Eel Marsh House is pumped by J-Horror like blood and Darkness Falls' Wraith bitch nastiness. So clearly The Woman in Black is not a fresh arrival to the horror splinter where the ghost story resides. However, great period ghost story films are in short supply, and Watkins' film most assuredly is a great entry in the sub-genre.

Propelling it forward is Watkins' (Eden Lake) excellent sense of mood and crafting of palpable unease. Quite often the better ghost story films are better because they operate on a what you don't see is what scares you more level, Watkins has managed to keep that aspect of his film whilst also giving us enough of the truly terrifying spirit to jolt us in our seats; often showing her to us and not to Radcliffe's Kipps! When the shocks come, and there are many and they are bona fide underwear soiling, they act as merciful releases from the built up dread, but then when Watkins doesn't deliver a shock, we are left waiting uneasily, darting our eyes all over the expansive frame, searching fruitlessly for a glimpse of something troubling. Did that wind up toy move? Is that a pallid face we just glimpsed in the shadows? That damn rocking chair is the scariest there has ever been! And on it goes....

A film such as this is only as good as the production design and setting for the story. Thankfully Watkins and his team have nailed it there as well. Eel Marsh House exteriors are Cotterstock Hall in Northamptionshire, perfectly foreboding, while the beautiful village of Halton Gill in the Yorkshire Dales gets a Hammer Horror make over to become Crythin Gifford. But it's with the interior of the house where the makers excel, an utterly unforgiving and upsetting place, brilliantly under lit by Tim Maurice-Jones for maximum scary effect.

On the acting front the film rests solely on the shoulders of Radcliffe, and he comes up trumps. Initially its awkward accepting him as the father of a young boy, and once he gets to Crythin Gifford he is dwarfed by all the other adults who live there, but once the Victorian setting envelopes him the awkwardness evaporates and the characterisation becomes more realistic and easy to sympathise with. The character is changed from the book, meaning Radcliffe has to carry inner torment as well as exuding an outer coat of trepidation blended with stoic fear. It should be noted that for much of the picture he is acting on his own, reacting to the house and the overgrown gardens and marshes, in short he is terrific and it augers well for his adult acting career. In support Hinds and McTeer are pillars of professionalism, with McTeer's Mrs. Daily a creepy character in her own right, but it's also another neat meditation on grief that sits alongside Arthur Kipps'.

The ending is also changed from that in the novel, and it's already proving to be divisive. How you react to it, and it is up for a two-fold interpretation, may dampen your overall enjoyment of the picture? Personally I have no issue with it, I was still sunk in the cinema chair breathing heavily at that point! The certification and the presence of Radcliffe ensures that a teenage audience will flock to see it, many of whom will not get the "horror" film that they are after. Hopefully the word will get out that this really is only a film for those who love a good boo jump ghost story of old, that's its target audience, and that's the people whose reviews you should trust. 9/10