Review: The Woman In Black

I should have learnt my lesson with the modern Hammer Films – I get incredibly excited for their productions (mainly Let Me In and The Resident) and after seeing them, feel incredibly let down –  the only one breaking this exception is low-budget Brit chiller, Wake Wood. With The Woman in Black, Hammer have attempted a return to the Gothic horror through an adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same title. It may be one of Hammer’s best projects since reviving but it is by no means a successful film.

Given the wonderful production values, its sad that Hammer lets down with a plain stodgy narrative. The concept of a Gothic ghost story is a refreshing change to the horror we have come to expect in the 21st Century but unfortunately its rather poorly handled. The events of The Woman in Black simply feel like a string of ‘attempted’ scare sequences connected by a loose ham-fisted plot. This plot manages to tick all haunted house/ghost story clichés imaginable – from creaking floor boards and doors to sinister looking antique toys. Of course, I know that its inevitable that you would hit some clichés when making a ghost story and The Woman in Black does provides on creepy atmosphere, but delivers no real scares (maybe a case of the distributors wishing to cater to the PG-13/12 market? ). The occasional jumps just feel rather old-hat, they have been done before.