Horror movies that do well and end up making their budget and more aren’t rare, but The Woman in Black was a strange movie due to the fact that the thrills and chills were present, but they weren’t nearly as plentiful as people might have expected. Instead, the cerebral horror that was supposed to provoke a visceral response was masked by the use of the settings and the buildup to the horror. This type of horror movie is actually kind of nice for those that don’t want to see a lot of blood and guts, but for those that want their horror to be a little more intense, this movie might fall a bit flat. but overall this movie is worth the attention it did get since it keeps a person waiting for the expected thrill that’s about to happen now and again, and it also gave Daniel Radcliffe yet another look to his repertoire. The famed Harry Potter star played the main character of Arthur Kipps, a lawyer that loses his wife in childbirth and is years later assigned to retrieve a set of documents from a home that is about to be put up for sale. The only problem is that upon his arrival to the town, he finds that strange things begin to happen.
The story of The Woman in Black is one that is kind of familiar in a lot of ways despite the fact that it’s still unique enough to stand apart from many other horror movies. In a sense, it does become a bit dry to the point that some might turn it off and find something a little more juicy and violent and to their liking. But the draw of this movie is that it is a revenge tale, the type that has played out in many ways and does get a little old sometimes, but is still alluring since it shows the petty side of humanity as well as the demanding nature that is revealed when everything else is stripped away. Many things have been said about spirits and their motivation to harm the living in the movies. Some say it’s because they’re jealous of the living, others say it’s because they want to share their misery with others. But revenge, that’s usually quite plain and simple since while some might take drastic and convoluted measures to exact their revenge, the dead usually just appear to take it without really worrying over what the living will do.
The Woman in Black is the type of movie that might bore some people initially since it takes time for the chills to really build, but once they do the movie doesn’t slow down that much until the end, when the twist that people should realize was coming finally hits. One thing about spirits, especially vengeful ones, is that they’ve been seen to be driven and entirely unforgiving when it comes to getting their way. Only a handful have ever been shown to be merciful, but nearly all of them have been depicted as being horrifying and willing to do pretty much anything to get what they’re after.
When this movie was first released it was treated as many usually are, with a good deal of respect for something that looked like it might be interesting and even a part of the new horror that would help to push things forward. But while it was successful and did manage to become a part of the genre as it should, the luster of the movie has definitely faded over the years as only those that are true horror buffs and those that hear the movie mentioned now and then are those that will even bother to give it a look. It’s easy to say that plenty of people still enjoy this movie, but it’s definitely faded from view over the years, much as many movies tend to do. It often feels as though the movies that are kept around more often in terms of visibility are those that provide the hack and slash experience that people enjoy a lot more often since there’s no need to think or even anticipate what’s going to happen since it’s a well-known fact that certain villains will run riot over anyone that’s put in their path and will only be stopped by the protagonist in the end.
Movies like The Woman in Black tend to fall behind a bit for a number of reasons that are hard to fully explain at times since after watching the movie it’s kind of hard to think that anyone would find it less than enjoyable unless of course, they’re not into horror. In that case, however, it’s usually best if a person steers away from anything that looks remotely like a horror movie. But this particular gem is one that has faded like an old photograph but is still just as interesting.
Harry Potter star
