Movie Critique for
The Woman in Black

"A throwback to old horror stories goes over surprisingly well"

Women in Black is a revival of a classic tale from the early 20th century England. Having read the old book, the film translated if very well, keeping the tale of the women in black as traditional as possible. Daniel Radcliffe and his co-workers do a fine job of their character portrayals, but the real start of the show is the location. The sweeping shots of the house on the marshlands really drove home the eerie tone of the film. The house itself is a foreboding mansion, a house one would associate with a ghost known as the woman in black. Throughout the film the scares are well timed and executed, following the traditional formula. The cinematography was excellent, using dramatic imagery to truly chill the viewer. Dolls and monkeys. Geez.

     Though an often overlooked aspect, I was quite pleased with the films score. Though most of the movie is quitter, when the action gets going the music was perfect compliment. Probably the best score of a horror movie I’ve seen to date.

     While everything else hit the right notes, the ending was brilliant! They took the expected and threw a twist on it that closed the story spectacularly.