MOVIE REVIEW- THE WOMEN IN BLACK!

The Woman in Black is a 1983 horror novella by Susan Hill, written in the style of a traditional Gothic novel and directed by James Watkins and produced by the biggest film productions "Hammer Productions".The plot explores the theme of women who is a ghost (her spirit) and haunts a small English town, heralding the death of children if she is seen by the children.

 The narrative and setting of the movie gives a great atmosphere as it is set in the olden times, Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills. The movie makes use of many codes and conventions of horror because  way the movie is shot uses good use of dark, gloomy and blue tone, grey colours as most of the scenes are set in the evening/ night times and is during the winter season making things even scarier making the movie nicely photographed and shot. This is a good convention of horror as most horror films are shot during the evening and night time and also during the winter/fall time where the weather is cold reflecting the mood and atmosphere where there is usually low key lighting which makes everything more eery and mysterious. It Splendidly delivers the old-school, hocus-pocus goods, reminding us that sometimes a bone-chilling movie scare can be frightfully, fitfully fun.

It’s well produced, acted and written and for fans of vintage horror, you'll definitely be entertained. The film delivers good conventions of horror such as the filmmakers really intensify the “ghost” convention and take it further by understanding  the simple power of ghosts, and they deliver a tense and chilling spook-fest. The characters in the film are dressed very old fashioned reflecting the time in which the film was set as the film is set in the olden times which makes the film even more freakier as behind anything ancient theires always something haunting and scary!  This film defiantly fits into the genre of horror as the vintage girls room little toys kept in the haunted house comes to life and is out to get you as things start playing around mysteriously at night with the use of sound such as sounds of lullaby's and the sound of the "women in black" wailing and crying really freeks me out as its very repetitive and you always hear the sound of her crying when she is secretly lurking in the dark!

The main actor of the film is Daniel Radcliffe, but fresh out of the "Harry Potter" series who as a lawyer travels away from his home to a village where he finds an abandoned house where he first discovers that the “Women in Black” spirit haunts the house and reveals all the terror, fright and spookiness that he discovers about her in the house. He is a lawyer and single parent still grieving the loss of his wife is sent to a country mansion supposedly haunted by a woman who causes the local children to commit suicide. Radcliff, in his first adult role since the Harry Potter is perfectly suited for this role as his intelligent looking character fits well into the role that he plays in this movie as it makes a convincing case for life after death and, for Radcliffe, life after Harry Potter. This movie is so good at inspiring moments of pure terror as Radcliffe paces down the hall and the camera zooms in all too perfectly. The film also makes good use of an establishing shot in the start of the movie where it reveals the place and setting of the film. The mise en scene indicates how there is a steam train indicating that the movie was set in the previous era and the scenery of lush overgrown trees and leaves suggests that the haunted house is a place that nobody has entered in a long time and shows it is abandoned house, again reflecting back to the conventions of horror as haunted houses indicate danger in a horror film.

If you enjoy your ghost stories, chasing shadows, and enjoy them sad and melancholic, creepy terrors then youll love this movie! 

However, a con to the movie is that the storyline is predictable and not as unique, as most of the story is set in a “haunted house” where the audience automatically know that bad things always lurk around in the haunted house and is very common! Moreover, If you're looking for nail-biting horror and suspense, this isn't the ticket as it is scary,but not as scary as many other scary films that I watched. But, is may be a good thing sometimes good as a younger age group will be able to watch the film without getting to spooked out.

Star rating out of 10: 7/10