First off, I want to start my review of this movie from a positive perspective. This movie contains many classic elements that you would normally see (only) in older, horror/scary flicks. This movie has many startling scenes in it that will make the faint of heart jump or scream, but each of the startling scenes in themselves are really not that disturbing or realistic. Now I'm going to review the entire movie. The acting in the movie is not bad, but the type of characters and events in the movie leave no opportunity for outstanding acting, either. The story is this: A young, widowed lawyer has a job to sort out and deal with the papers and will of a dead woman. He takes a train (the story takes place somewhere in the 1920's / 1930's) to the village where she both lived and died. Many events happen there, and one where Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is blamed for. The townspeople want him gone, but he stays to finish his work so that he may keep his job and support his young son. He soon discovers the house of the woman who died is haunted, but continues to brave through-it and discover the mystery of exactly what happened and why the house is haunted by the "Woman in Black".
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The story of this movie is not very long. It seems as though just to make the movie longer, it drags on for a long time in dull, unnesscary parts of the movie. This can be slightly annoying. Early in the movie, Arthur explores the house of the dead woman. This appears to be a simple showcase of the kind of horror the movie contains early on, and all of the 'scares', are set up very obviously. This is a typcial element in the movie that instantly strikes the movie as a semi-predictable one. The plot itself is kind of cheesy and un-original. When Arthur starts to get more involved with the spirits of the dead children and the "Woman in Black", he realizes he must find the body of the dead child and lay it to rest properly, so he can satisfy the "Woman in Black" and lay her soul to rest. The Woman in Black is very hateful and vengeful of her dead child, so she possesses other children and leads them to death. Arthur succesfully lays her soul/spirit to rest, but not completely. The ending of the movie was very predictable as well, and it made the movie worse than it had to be. In summary, this movie can be fun to watch if you're scared easily, (And you enjoy being scared, of course) but the story and movie itself is just too un-original and dull to stand out from many other movies of the same genre.
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The story of this movie is not very long. It seems as though just to make the movie longer, it drags on for a long time in dull, unnesscary parts of the movie. This can be slightly annoying. Early in the movie, Arthur explores the house of the dead woman. This appears to be a simple showcase of the kind of horror the movie contains early on, and all of the 'scares', are set up very obviously. This is a typcial element in the movie that instantly strikes the movie as a semi-predictable one. The plot itself is kind of cheesy and un-original. When Arthur starts to get more involved with the spirits of the dead children and the "Woman in Black", he realizes he must find the body of the dead child and lay it to rest properly, so he can satisfy the "Woman in Black" and lay her soul to rest. The Woman in Black is very hateful and vengeful of her dead child, so she possesses other children and leads them to death. Arthur succesfully lays her soul/spirit to rest, but not completely. The ending of the movie was very predictable as well, and it made the movie worse than it had to be. In summary, this movie can be fun to watch if you're scared easily, (And you enjoy being scared, of course) but the story and movie itself is just too un-original and dull to stand out from many other movies of the same genre.