The Woman in Black Having been given a 12A certificate by the BBFC, I was slightly dubious whether or not this spooky tale could really deliver any good shocks and scares. I needn't have worried. There were several occasions when I had the spine-tingles and a couple of set pieces that had me jumping out of my chair ( at one point my choice of language was far from 12A ). It's all good ghostly fun. Daniel Radcliffe plays the youthful looking widower Arthur Kipps, a lawyer sent in to tidy up the legal affairs of a recently deceased woman. The locals are hostile towards his presence at Eel Marsh House ( a proper Gothic haunted manor cut off at high tide ) and Kipps' sightings of a woman in black are soon linked to the deaths of children in the village. There are ghostly noises, moving furniture, faces in windows and spooky children and it is all put together in that 'Hammer - Houses of Horror' way. There is very little gore or horror but the atmosphere of the film is perfectly judged. It's more about the things you don't see than the things you do. Like a good, old fashioned campfire ghost story, it is how the story is told that can be the truly scary thing. Daniel Radcliffe does well in his first major roll since the H.P films, delivering a solid performance and a guaranteed young audience for the film. 'The Woman in Black' could so easily have been given a 15 certificate and I thought the final scenes were slightly wasted but fans of spine -tingles everywhere should enjoy this tidy tale of spirit rage. Atmospherically jumpy.
7.5 out of 10
Cert 12A (uk)
2011
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