Hammer horror is back! After producing low-budget, gothic classics like "The Curse of Frankenstein," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Horror of Dracula," featuring actors like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, Britain's Hammer Films disappeared 30 years ago, but it's re-emerged recently under corporate cable TV executive Simon Oakes with the acclaimed remake of "Let Me In" and now "The Woman in Black."
The Woman In Black, Sinister, Somewhat Spooky
(Hammer Films/CBS Films)
In his first major post-Harry Potter film role, Daniel Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps, a cash-strapped, guilt-ridden widower who, leaving his son Joseph (Misha Handley) with a nanny in London, is dispatched as an estate solicitor (a.k.a. lawyer) to the remote seaside village of Crythin Gifford to sort out the papers of recently deceased Alice Drabkow. This elderly recluse lived in a decrepit Victorian mansion, called Eel Marsh House, which - as Arthur discovers - is haunted by Jennet Humfrye (Liz White), a solitary, revenge-seeking ghost. Shunned by most of the terrified townsfolk, who are fearful of the wicked spirit's continuing vengeance against their children, Arthur is befriended by skeptical Sam Daily (Ciaran Hinds) and his grief-riddled wife (Janet McTeer).
Adapted from Susan Hill's 1983 novella which became a long-running play on the West End and then a British TV movie (starring Arthur Rawlins who, coincidentally, played James, Harry Potter's doomed father), it's scripted by Jane Goodman ("The Debt") and directed with admirable restraint by James Watkins ("Eden Lake"). Filmed near Osea Island in Northern England, it's a superbly creepy locale, often obscured by sea mists, and the creaking house with its squeaking doors, appropriately outfitted by production designer Kave Quinn, is forebodingly photographed by Tim Maurice-Jones.
Even decked out in a period frock coat and pocket-watch, Daniel Radcliffe hardly looks old enough to be this miserable, bereaved husband whose wife Stella (Sophie Stuckey) died in childbirth years ago. Admittedly, it's difficult to separate the diminutive, blue-eyed actor from his famous Potter image.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10 "The Woman in Black" is a sinister, somewhat spooky 6, bearing the stylish Hammer imprint.
As the only person I know who was born in Brooklyn and never moved away, I have a special interest in reasons that people would leave such a heaven-sent destination. Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri), the principal performer in Debbie Goodstein's semi-autobiographical film "Mighty Fine," checked out of N ...
NEW YORK, NY - Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced today the release of Last Of A Dying Breed from Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band's first studio album since the September 29, 2009 release of God & Guns which debuted at #18 on the Billboard Top 20 and gave the band their highest debut since 1977. La ...
This well-meaning but innocuous comedy-drama featuring Brian Crano's TV-style direction and which is co-written by him and one of the principal performers is a story about redemption and emotional growth. However the pace is sluggish, the situations absurd, and the actors go about their roles mecha ...
Whenever devout Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) must face a personal problem, she dutifully turns to the teachings of her Church. "I don't have to think - I'm Catholic," she explains. But when she learns that she's a finalist for the parish's "Roman Catholic Woman of the Year" in Chester, the small ...
If you've ever joined in a bull session during your second year of college, you'll recall that one of your most sophomoric debates was centered on the topic, "Everyone, nobody high nice, has a breaking point," or, in other words, "Civilization is not much more the skin deep, hanging by a thread" (to ...
View Local News Sources From 33,000+ Neighborhoods Nationwide!
The Woman In Black, Sinister, Somewhat Spooky 
