¡Qué horror! 2012
Candidate # 21
THE WOMAN IN BLACK
(February 2012)
If you’re in the
mood for some old school ghost story hijinx, you can’t really go wrong with
James Watkins’ The Woman in Black.
Adapted from
Susan Hill’s novel by she-of-the-flaming-red hair, Mrs. Jonathan Ross, Jane
Goldman--who, as frequent Matthew Vaughn collaborator, has also adapted Neil Gaiman (Stardust)
and Mark Millar (Kick-Ass), and brought the X-Men back to the
swinging 60’s (X-Men: First Class)--this
one has got a decrepit mansion surrounded by a vast, mucky marsh, suitably
saddled with the unbearably charming name of “Eel Marsh House.” It’s a rotting
domicile dominated by a black-garbed ghost, and chockful of cobwebs, creepy
kids’ toys, and a rocking chair.
What more could
you ask for in any self-respecting haunted house?
Sure, poor old
Harry Potter (actually, Daniel Radcliffe, in period 'cut and garb) has no business galumphing around Eel
Marsh House when he should be working, what, with his job in jeopardy, and yes,
that damned dog disappears conveniently enough when he’s not needed to bark at
unseen ghostly apparitions, but the creeps and the scares are so finely tuned,
one can choose to overlook these slights.
The fact that
this is such a different kind of film from Watkins’ feature debut, past ¡Qué Horror! title, Eden Lake, is simply another reason why this gets on this year’s
Candidate List…
(The Woman in Black OS’ courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)
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