When I saw the initial reviews of Daniel Radcliffe’s latest endeavor, The Woman in Black, I was excited. From most critics I was promised a well developed plot and was guaranteed to be frightened.
To say I was disappointed was an understatement.
The Woman in Black follows Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps, a widowed lawyer with a young son and whose job depends on his going to Marsh House to take care of final affairs for a recently deceased crazy woman.
Kipps leaves his son with his nanny and travels out to Marsh House, which lies on the outskirts of a small English town. A series of mildly creepy events occur at the stereotypical “scary old house”, many of which could have been solved if Kipps would just light some candles.
Kipps’ first night culminates in him noticing the mysterious and “feared by the backwards-thinking locals” Woman in Black, who may as well have been called the Pied Piper in Black
I won’t spoil the story for you, but the movie continues for another hour or so, killing more children and having Kipps walk around silently in a creepy house some more.
The movie had so much more potential than it used. I was promised to be scared and some decent nightmares, instead I jumped a few times and laughed at a well-timed yell of “Ron!” from an audience member when a little ginger boy came on screen.
Overall, The Woman in Black isn’t a movie worth the obscene price of a movie ticket. If you’re really that intent on getting your Daniel Radcliffe fix, wait for Netflix or pop in a Harry Potter DVD. It’ll be a better use of your 2 hours.
