James Watkins is primarily a writer and has one directorial venture before The Woman In Black. It was another thriller of sorts called Eden Lake. But he is best known for writing the likes of The Descent 2 and a random movie called Gone (not the one I reviewed last year or the one that is expected in the near future with Amanda Seyfried). Surprisingly, all movies are in the horror genre. Must be a fetish that Watkins developed in his early years. For what its worth, the end product seems to be one that does sends a few shivers down or up your spine. So I guess Watkins has learnt quite a bit from his adventures with this genre over time.
What stands out all through the movie is the fantastic use of sound, light and silence. The music is haunting – which is what it should be in a horror movie – and really makes you get that eerie feeling. There are really long periods of time without a sound leave alone a concept of a dialogue. It builds up the suspense quite well and makes you want to grab hold of the seat a little tighter than how you normally would. Most of the movie is shot in a very dark hue with some elements of light petering in as required. Even the day time sequences which are creepy are shot with a lot of fog and diffused lighting as the case may require. So sticking to the basics seems to have paid off. Horror movies need not have dialogues right. So why waste your time on it. Focus on creating the errie and not talking about it.
But that’s where the good parts kind of end. Most the movie is vastly predictable. One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out whats going to happen next. So when Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is forced to take the assignment with his law firm that takes him to a desolate place to figure out the last will and testament of a lady who has recently passed, you know that it has to be in a house or a castle that’s errie or has too many secrets. And you know that if he stays the night then bad things are going to happen to him. And you know that if he decides to investigate errie sounds in the middle of the night which involve climbing up creaky stairs and trying to open doors which otherwise don’t open – guess what, the door will open. Normal eerie horror flick techniques. No rocket science as I mentioned.
Not much of a star cast with the exeption of that boy prodigy who got famous for playing the lead role in probably the most amazing fantasy series of the previous decade. And the vastly under rated Ciarán Hinds. Not much of a role for the rest of the cast actually but for overacting with fear in their eyes. Its not really “have to see material”. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi385981977/
What stands out all through the movie is the fantastic use of sound, light and silence. The music is haunting – which is what it should be in a horror movie – and really makes you get that eerie feeling. There are really long periods of time without a sound leave alone a concept of a dialogue. It builds up the suspense quite well and makes you want to grab hold of the seat a little tighter than how you normally would. Most of the movie is shot in a very dark hue with some elements of light petering in as required. Even the day time sequences which are creepy are shot with a lot of fog and diffused lighting as the case may require. So sticking to the basics seems to have paid off. Horror movies need not have dialogues right. So why waste your time on it. Focus on creating the errie and not talking about it.
But that’s where the good parts kind of end. Most the movie is vastly predictable. One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out whats going to happen next. So when Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is forced to take the assignment with his law firm that takes him to a desolate place to figure out the last will and testament of a lady who has recently passed, you know that it has to be in a house or a castle that’s errie or has too many secrets. And you know that if he stays the night then bad things are going to happen to him. And you know that if he decides to investigate errie sounds in the middle of the night which involve climbing up creaky stairs and trying to open doors which otherwise don’t open – guess what, the door will open. Normal eerie horror flick techniques. No rocket science as I mentioned.
Not much of a star cast with the exeption of that boy prodigy who got famous for playing the lead role in probably the most amazing fantasy series of the previous decade. And the vastly under rated Ciarán Hinds. Not much of a role for the rest of the cast actually but for overacting with fear in their eyes. Its not really “have to see material”. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi385981977/
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