If you’re looking for an eerie movie with a nice slow build and plenty of scares, this period ghost story starring Daniel Radcliffe is definitely worth a look.
Radcliffe broods with the best Londoners as Arthur, a young, distracted solicitor (that’s lawyer for those of us stateside) still grieving his wife’s death in childbirth a few years ago. His boss offers him one last chance to keep his job by sending him to a remote village to examine a recently-deceased client’s documentation left behind in her fog-shrouded mansion. With his young son in the care of a nanny for three days, he travels by train, where he meets Sam, a resident of that village. Turns out Sam and his wife are the only ones who want Arthur around though. That’s because if Arthur sees a ghostly woman dressed in black at the mansion, a child in the village will die. But Arthur must do his job, so he heads to the mansion to sort the paperwork as quickly as possible. There he experiences creepy musical toys, shadowy figures, crazy rocking chairs, and plenty more to set his heart racing. Yet he stays, trying to finish his job and solve the mystery of the woman in black and the dying children of the village, before his son and nanny are due to arrive and his son’s life is also in peril.
Atmospheric, melancholy in parts, and with plenty of scares, The Woman in Black also features a great ending perfect for the storyline and characters. Add this one to your 31 Days of Horror!
- Top Scare: Windows
- Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
- Gore Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
- Scare Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
- Recommended for: 13 and up