Movie review: The Woman in Black

A haunted house movie done right.

During the screening of The Woman in Black, I couldn’t help but think back to last summer’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and how that movie got nearly everything wrong, but this one got it all right.

That starts with doing everything the old-fashioned way. The film relies on mood, art direction, sound effects, and editing to deliver its scares. There’s little blood or CGI, just practical effects and ramped-up tension.

Our protagonist is Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), a widowed London lawyer headed out to the marshland to settle the estate of a certified crazy lady. If he can get the mess of paperwork in order and sell the house, there’s a big promotion in store.

Of course, as soon as he pulls into town, he’s just as quickly ordered to leave. It’s not just country-vs.-city bias, as he quickly learns. No one wants him to visit the mansion left behind. It’s cursed, of course. And of course, a rational man like Kipps won’t be swayed by the superstitions of some yokels.

He probably should have listened because the supernatural shenanigans start the second he gets there. It all starts with seeing the terrifying vision of a woman dressed in head-to-toe black. Then come the loud noises behind locked doors. And there’s even an audio-only recreation of an accident out in the fog. And that’s just day one.

Grave-robbing always ends well for people, right?

Undeterred, Kipps does more investigating, finding letters at the house, where he makes the discovery that the crazy lady’s son was actually adopted, snatched from the sister she had institutionalized. Then the boy drowned, the sister killed herself, and has been haunting the town ever since.

The only local who doesn’t buy into this curse nonsense is Mr. Daily, played well by Ciaran Hinds. (He’s got one of those faces that always appears to be hiding something, one of the reasons he was a key part of the great ensemble of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.) His son has died too, but he chalked it up to tragedy and moved on.

But as the ghost keeps up her killing spree, Daily and Kipps have to drop their doubts and find a way to stop or, at the very least, appease her. Their plan is probably one of the dumbest in horror history, but it sets up an interesting final twist that will divide audiences.

That audience component is key. Seeing this film in a packed theater only heightens the experience. Despite all the legitimate scares the film provides, I think the most screams came early on when a crow flew out of an empty fireplace. Don’t worry — you’ll be clutching your armrest plenty as the film goes.

Going back to Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, that movie failed because it painted by the numbers, and gave us no mystery to try to unravel, only a weird kid and some nasty little critters. The Woman in Black gives us characters we can care about, and spins its yarn with style and technique.

For showtimes for The Woman in Black, click here.