So for anyone who knows me in the slightest knows that i LOOOOVE movies, seriously, i use movie poste as wallpaper in my bedroom lol. And given that i love talking about movies, i figure that i should start writing some film reviews, so that maybe i can even start building up a portfolio and perhaps use them to get an actual job as a critic and plus help any fellow movie goers out there in finding out what to go see this weekend.

I felt that reviewing The Woman in Black first is appropriate given my facination with horror (not slashers, i hate those) and Harry Potter :D Also this movie has been marketed for very long time, so i was very much anticipating it while also trying to be level headed and unbiased as a good critic should do.

Tell me what you think of this review and what i can improve on :)

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The Woman in Black

Over the years studying my beloved films, i have come to many conclusions about many different genres. the one theory that i most undoubtedly cannot deny is that the most difficult genres to achieve for a director are comedy and horror. The effort it takes to succeed in either of these extreme opposites is like an ADD kid trying to pass his SATs while he's still learning his ABCs. To slip up in either genre is incredibly easy and nearly impossible for any of the crew to notice during production. Horror often suffers more for its mistakes, as the consequences can turn the movie funny, boring or just plain stupid. While i can't say The Woman in Black is a great movie, i can luckily neither say that it falls in the pits that other horror films do.

First written in 1983 by Susan Hill, The Woman in Black became regarded as one the scariest novels of its time and still frightens readers today. Since then the book has gotten various re-releases and a play adaptation in London's West End in 1988 and continues running to this day. The story is set in the early 20th century Britain where the young widowed lawyer is sent to a remote village where he must sort out the heaps of documents to sell the old mansion where the vengeful spirit of a woman that terrorizes the town is rumored to reside. As you can probably tell from the description or even the title is that this movie is as old fashion as you can get. This gives great points in its favour and against it.

To first adress the elephant in the room, yes the character of Arthur Kipps is played by Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and to be honest, i barely even notice. I didn't see Harry Potter, i saw Daniel Radcliffe the actor, much like how people see Jeniffer Aniston as the actress and not as Rachel Green from Friends. Aside from one instance where that illusion is broken (you'll know it when you see it), this film convinces me that Radcliffe will have a carrer outside of his round spectacles. Plus i gotta say, he looks prtty damn good with sideburns.

The film does have a great thick atmosphere and excelent cinemaphotogrphy that exceptionally shines in the beginning and end, which personally made me like this film overall. It is very reminiscent of the traditions of Edgar Allen Poe or Vincent Price horrors which makes it beauiful to the point of dread to look at and feel the tense emotion in the air. Director James Watkins (Eden Lake 2008) makes the smart choice of following the footsteps of dirctor Oren Peli with his low budget hit Paranormal Activity. The movie actualy watches like if Allen Poe did cross with Parnormal and had a higher budget. Figures are left in a haze and objects glance out of the corner of your eye so subtly you wonder if you even saw it and it does wonders.

Where the movie falls flat though is when it gets too excited about its subject and abandons its subtlety and then tries to ge back in its atmosphere like nothing happened. It's like the movie can't decide whether it wants to go for subtle tension or for quick shockers and it leaves it feeling schitzophrenic and not really popping out with any effort, like your chronically fatigued girlfriend trying to jump out of your birthday cake. Plus for having such sevre consequences for the events that take place, the town's people don't try all that hard in keeing them fom happening.

Overall though, i still rather enjoyed this film, its a good ol' fashion ghost story with some great visuals and atmosphere, nothing more and nothing less. I as well wouldn't mind giving it a few more watches either, even just to catch all the subtle things i missed. This film is for anyone who appreciates the works of Poe or Price and wish to have something new to clench their teeth to. It does have quite a few good scares and they're even better when watching completely alone. But if you don't want to risk your admition ticket, go see Chronicle, that's been getting great reviews i hear.

If you still want a scare for your next movie that you'll for sure like and still similar to this, go watch The Orphange. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, a spanish horror that has a great script, fantastic decade visuals, an eerie world and an ending you won't soon forget. And who cares if its spanish?! So was Pan's Labyrinth... should give that a re-watch too.