the woman in black (james watkins, 2012)

let’s start by saying that this is nowhere near as good as the book or the play. however, as a film in itself is not that bad. hammer really gets its sets and locations right. the house is amazing, and so is the marshland. i loved that scene when they recover the body. all that mud and how they managed to infuse it with a very classic hammery feeling, a kind of ‘indoorsy outdoors’; i love it. and so many creepy toys and stuffed animals! i certainly want the wee monkey with the maracas.

on top of all that, there are some very spooky moments that actually made jump on my seat (particularly the scene with the crow’s nest at the beginning and the one with the windowpane towards the end).

the acting was ok, but i had issues with daniel radcliffe. he looked too young for my liking; i never believed him as a father (but i admit that might be because i can’t picture him portraying anything other than ‘the-boy-who-lived’).

i kind of liked the change in ending, too (i loved how cynical it is), but i hated the cheesy final scene with all my guts .

all in all, much better than i expected. well worth a watch if you like ghost stories. however, if you are a hardcore susan hill fan, you must watch it with an open mind, i warn you!

Rating: 7/10

the woman in black (herbert wise)

not as good as the book nor the play, but certainly a good effort, especially the first half (the pace on the last part could have been a bit tighter). the whole atmosphere is really spot on, and the original story is so good that it would be almost impossible to fuck it up (well, haven’t said this, i don’t have high hopes for the harry potter adaptation, even though i have to admit the trailers look good). i missed all the back story of the woman and the child and the actual accident, though, it seems the focus is on the guy more than on the cause of the spirit’s unease; but, as i say, well worth a watch. oh, and spider the dog is the cutest thing ever!

Rating: 7/10