The Woman in Black has a lot going for it. On top of being Daniel Radcliffe’s (Harry Potter) first role since playing the young wizard, it also looked like a very exciting and original horror film, which is in short supply lately.
The Woman in Black opened up Friday February, 3rd. I knew after watching the trailers that I’d be in the theater opening night. Being an avid horror film fan, I couldn’t pass this one up. Also; I wanted to see how Radcliffe did as Arthur Kipps. And, let’s just say, as the film goes on you almost forget that you’re looking at the former Harry Potter. In short, Radcliffe does quite well.
The movie opens with three girls having a tea party with their dolls. Without warning, the girls all look toward the window and stand up, walking toward the window, which is divided into three parts. Simultaneously, the girls unlock and open the windows, jumping out to their unfortunate deaths.
Arthur Kipps is packing his things. He is a lawyer who is taking a trip to Crythin Grifford in order to settle things with the late Alice Drablow. Before leaving, Mr. Kipps bids his child, Joseph, farewell after receiving a drawing from him. It shows him, his nanny, Arthur, and his mother Stella. Stella being an angel sitting on a clowd, signifying that Arthur is a widower.
Arthur takes the drawing and gives his son and nanny a final good by before boarding the train, headed for the small town. When he arrives, it’s a very stormy night. He makes his way to the local inn, saying he should have a room waiting for him. The inn-keeper, who doesn’t seem to pleased with Arthur’s presence, tells him that all rooms are booked and there’s no space for him. Before leaving, a woman comes in and allows him to stay in the attic. The man doesn’t look pleased, but finally agrees.
The whole time at the town, all the citizens seem angered with him. They don’t want him there and make sure that he knows it. He does well ignoring them and getting his business done at Mrs. Drablow’s marsh house. The whole time inside the house he’s seeing images of a woman dressed in all black randomly around the house. He doesn’t let it distract him.
Each time out to the house, it seems as if Arthur finds out a bit more about Mrs. Drablow. Her son was adopted by her sister, Mrs. Fisher, against her will, and she wasn’t happy with this. She assured her sister that she would see him even against her will. And, judging by pictures he found in the house, she did just that.
It’s found out that her son died drowning in the marsh one day. Mrs. Drablow wrote to her sister saying that he only died because she saved herself instead of him. Some unpleasant words were shared and then it’d discovered that Mrs. Drablow hung herself in her child’s old room. Now the spirit of Mrs. Drablow haunts the house and the entire town. Each time someone sees her, a child in the village seems to commit suicide. Almost every citizen of the town blames Arthur for the children’s deaths during his stay and make it known even more that his presence is not welcome.
Arthur refuses to back down and continues his job, putting up with all the haunts of the house, the deaths of children, and the foul feelings of the towns folk. All the while, he digs deeper and deeper into the mystery of Mrs. Drablow and her family. Leading up to the very shocking, and appropriate ending.
The Woman in Black was all around decent. It wasn’t exactly stand out anywhere other than the fact that it was Daniel Radcliffe’s first role since Harry. It was rather slow-paced, which was unfortunate, but offered plenty of spooky moments. And quite a bit of moments that made the entire audience nearly jump out of their skin.
The story was really well written. It gave a bit of everything any good horror movie could ask for. Tingles were sent down your spine on more than one occasion, it had a good, original plot line, and the ending was very unexpected yet very practical.
Overall, The Woman in Black was worth seeing. It may not have been the best ghost story ever told, but it’s decent. Definitely worth seeing once, perhaps more if you’re a big fan of the genre. And, judging by Radcliffe’s performance, I am looking forward to his roles in future films.
Stephen Bragg started with SoEntertain.Me as one of our guest writers. He is now one of our newest staff members, who will be writing for, not only this site, but gaming and backstage as well. 
