Friday Review-The Woman in Black (2012)

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Daniel Radcliff is an actor that has made a valiant and successful attempt at leaving his Harry Potter days behind by making bold, varied choices regarding his projects. The Woman in Black is one of those projects, a horror film set in 1920's England. As much as this film as elements that I like and as much as I wanted to like this film it still fell flat, for me, in many ways. Radcliff plays Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer-and father- whose career is on the line. In a last ditch attempt to save his career he is sent to the northern coast of England,  a place filled with marshes, poor communication and, as we soon find out, ghosts. Arthur's job is to sort out the estate of an old family mansion, a place so creepy it's hard to imagine anyone going there willingly. It's this kind of old fashioned horror movie setting that works for The Woman in Black.  The house is full of ominous children's toys, papers and death certificates, peeling wall paper with writing underneath, candles and all the other horror movie paraphernalia that anyone could want. There are some genuinely creepy moments-three girls jumping out of a window simultaneously, other worldly screams and faces appearing at the window. But if there's a flaw with this movie it's the lack of exposition and a plot that seems to be held together by fragments. When Kipps arrives in town no one warns him about the dangers of heading to the abandoned manner. A driver refuses to take Kipps there but no reason is given and Kipps doesn't ask. Perhaps, unlike me, he hasn't been raised on a steady diet of scary movies but common sense would seem to say that if someone refuses to take you somewhere there's usually a good reason. Also, unlike numerous horror movie protagonists before him, Kipps doesn't seem to want to 'chase the shadows' he's warned about, he just doesn't see a reason not to go to the mansion. In fact, Kipps seems remarkably indifferent to everything that goes on.  While I was jumping out of my seat, barely a look of fear crossed Radcliff's face and he seemed to have little sense of self preservation. Perhaps though, this was intentional since Kipps is an unhappy character, mourning the death of his wife and struggling to raise his son. It's Radcliff's mournful eyes that made him so endearing as Harry Potter and makes him so sympathetic as Kipps.Mournful eyes aside, Kipps seems barely invested in finding out what's going on, coming up with a solution or even saving himself. Despite the chills that the film offers though, the mystery just isn't mysterious enough. The reason for the children's deaths is known to everyone and the back story of the villainous woman in black is too much, too soon-she lost her son and now is exacting revenge on everyone else's children.As a fan of the mystery element in horror films I was disappointed by this. In spite of this, though, the production is right on with great camera work, setting, music and costuming. It won't keep you up at night but it does serve up some good scares.

Bottom Line: The Woman in Black doesn't live up to it's potential but it is an enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing film, certainly worth a watch.