According the local lore, in a small English town in the countryside, there is a spirit who kills and takes the souls of children. She is the Woman in Black. She was once Jennett Humfrye, a loving, but unstable mother and wife, whose son Nathaniel was taken in by Jennett's sister Alice. She considered Alice a child thief, and Alice decided it would be best if Nathaniel did not know of his true parents. Jennett decided that she would never forgive Alice when Nathaniel drowned in a marshland. Alice could not dig up the body, so Jennett deemed it "an improper burial" and told her sister via letters to "rot in hell". Jennett hung herself after cursing this village, and resides in Alice's old mansion, the Eel Marsh house, which sits by itself in the foggy countryside, cut off from the village at high tide. Many children have died after seeing her ghost. She takes their souls as her new children, even when the curse was attempted to be lifted, Jennett continued to kill. The Woman in Black will never stop.
Movie review:
This movie was satisfying, but still needed some work. Arthur Kipps, a poor real estate agent from London, is told by his boss he must sell the old Eel Marsh House in the countryside. He is told if he does not, he will lose his job. He leaves his son with the nanny (his wife died during childbirth) and travels to the old village. There he meets kindly Sam Daily, a landlord. He is met with hostility by the other townsfolm. At Eel Marsh House, he sees a mysterious woman in the darkness, in the shadowy fogs. When kids begin dying in the village, Sam and Kipps decide they must lift the curse, before Kipps' son and nanny come to visit, and before this Woman in Black can claim any more lives. The cast are surpisingly very good. Daniel Radcliffe (whose career I assumed to be over after Harry Potter) is good as Arthur Kipps, the widower real estate agent who must save his soul and the souls of others from this woman in black. Ciaran Hinds is good as Daily, who lost his own son to this ghost, and is the only one to really help Kipps. Janet McTeer plays Elisabeth, Daily's unstable wife who lost most of her mind after her son was taken by the ghost. Liz White is good as the creepy, shadowy Woman in Black (Funny, Liz White plays the Woman in Black). The special effects are minimal, but are used effectively. The musical score is very similar to Dead Silence, as is most of the imagery and atmosphere, which isn't a bad thing. The atmosphere is creepy and dark, but the film does rely heavily on jump scares, which down-grades it. Overall, with it's frightening scenes, creepy atmosphere and music, good effects, terrifying new horror character, and satisfactory acting and story, The Woman in Black is worth a rental or a buy if it's sold at a cheap price. 3/5 stars.
