A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.
- Director
- Writers
- Susan Hill(novel)
- Jane Goldman(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Susan Hill(novel)
- Jane Goldman(screenplay)
- Stars
- Awards
- 5 wins & 14 nominations
Videos9
- Director
- Writers
- Susan Hill(novel)
- Jane Goldman(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe boy who plays Daniel Radcliffe's son is his real godson, casting suggested by Radcliffe himself, which helped him establish an authentic relationship between father and son.
- GoofsWhen Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) first reaches Gifford Arms Inn in Sam Daily's (Ciarán Hinds) car, it is raining heavily and Arthur is shown with his clothes wet. When it cuts to the next scene where Arthur talks to the innkeeper Fisher (Shaun Dooley) at the reception counter, Arthur's clothes are suddenly dry. In the next scene still at the reception, his clothes are wet again.
- Quotes
Arthur Kipps: You don't believe me, do you?
Daily: I believe even the most rational mind can play tricks in the dark.
- Alternate versionsThe UK cinema version was cut visually by six seconds to secure a 12A rating. In addition to this, some substitutions were also made by the distributor. This included darkening some shots to reduce the impact of their graphic/horrific nature, and reducing the sound levels in others. Some of these cuts in particular apply to a hanging scene and a scene of self-immolation.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.79 (2012)
- SoundtracksDie Frau in Schwarz - Titel
(uncredited)
Top review
Obvious regarding the genre standards but still effective and surprisingly chilling
I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to watching this film – it sat in my queue for quite some time and never appealed. The plot is your standard ghost story / haunted house fare – a tragedy which has resulted in lingering horrors which a new person in town doesn't fully appreciate but, when he does, he tries to make up for the past to make it all stop. There is detail around this but essentially this is what it is and at its base it is familiar. The delivery follows a similar path in terms of what it does, because we have creepy children, creepy dolls, lots of shadows, static figures and half-seen movements.
All of this is very much of the genre but yet it is still effective and I was surprised by just how frightening parts of it were – it more than earns the 12A certificate it got in the UK because for sure the intensity and unnerving aspects of it do more than gore or language would do. The film opens with a strong scene of three children who seem compelled to calmly throw themselves to their death out of an attic window. From here the creepiness continues in a similar, understated manner in the way a good ghost story should. Okay it is not breaking new ground with half-seen faces in windows and lots of jump scares as things happen, but it still works well. I watched it with headphones and the impact of the sound design is also important – while it of course does the sudden noises well, the silence is very well captured because it is not just "no noise" but rather the stillness of waiting for something to happen.
Radcliffe leads the film well, convincing in his performance and making for a likable lead – although he has his Potter fame, he doesn't overplay here and (for me at least) his fame didn't distract from me getting into the film. He is well supported by good turns from the supporting cast, but the main work comes from the production design as the house is creepy and is well filmed, lit and captured to have a tangible sense of dread and presence – this is what makes the film as enjoyable as it was. It is still a genre film for sure, but it is one that works well with plenty of atmosphere, chills and scares.
All of this is very much of the genre but yet it is still effective and I was surprised by just how frightening parts of it were – it more than earns the 12A certificate it got in the UK because for sure the intensity and unnerving aspects of it do more than gore or language would do. The film opens with a strong scene of three children who seem compelled to calmly throw themselves to their death out of an attic window. From here the creepiness continues in a similar, understated manner in the way a good ghost story should. Okay it is not breaking new ground with half-seen faces in windows and lots of jump scares as things happen, but it still works well. I watched it with headphones and the impact of the sound design is also important – while it of course does the sudden noises well, the silence is very well captured because it is not just "no noise" but rather the stillness of waiting for something to happen.
Radcliffe leads the film well, convincing in his performance and making for a likable lead – although he has his Potter fame, he doesn't overplay here and (for me at least) his fame didn't distract from me getting into the film. He is well supported by good turns from the supporting cast, but the main work comes from the production design as the house is creepy and is well filmed, lit and captured to have a tangible sense of dread and presence – this is what makes the film as enjoyable as it was. It is still a genre film for sure, but it is one that works well with plenty of atmosphere, chills and scares.
helpful•41
- bob the moo
- May 25, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Người Đàn Bà Áo Đen
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $17,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $54,333,290
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $20,874,072
- Feb 5, 2012
- Gross worldwide
- $128,955,898
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Recently viewed
Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.