The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black
Stars: DanRad!


I have two complaints about this movie and even though they're inconsequential, I'm still going to share them.  The first is that the story was nothing new.  In fact it was quite easy to figure out what was going on pretty quickly.  The second is a matter of believability and I'll get to that in a minute.  I will say that I jumped multiple times and at one point realized I was gripping my arm rest.  That's a good thing.  Even though I knew something was coming they still managed to scare me.  So in that respect I was quite pleased with the movie. 


The movie opened with three ginger girls having a tea party with their dolls.  Three ginger girls mean one of two things: 1) they aren't long for this world or 2) they are the source of all evil.  I'm naturally a ginger (though I cover it up) so I can say these things with great conviction.  I'm not going to tell you the fate of the ginger girls in case you do see the movie.

So the deal is: DanRad's wife is dead, he has a 4-year old son, and is late on paying some bills.  His boss sends him to a tiny, creepy corner of England to go through a dead lady's paperwork.  The townspeople don't want him there but won't tell him why.  He befriends Mr. Daily (played by Ciaran Hinds), the only wealthy and sane man in the county.  Mr. Daily has had his share of heartbreak but understands DanRad (whose character does have a name -Arthur- but DanRad is so much better) is there to do his job.  This is something the villagers don't seem to understand.  Instead of helping him do his job quickly and without incident they just blame him for everything.  DanRad heads out to the dead lady's house and it's a creepy house.  It's a dark, creepy, haunted house.  Oooo!  He sees things and hears things but can't be chased off.  Daily drops him at the house one day and leaves him with two things, his dog (for company) and the wise advice, "Don't chase shadows."  So what does DanRad do?  He chases shadows.  LIKE THE ENTIRE TIME!  I was stressed that the dog wasn't going to make it.  But...*SPOILER ALERT*...he did.  DanRad thinks he knows what the ghost wants and how to satisfy it. Does it work?  Well you'll just have to see the movie.

DanRad did a good job but his casting in the movie was my second big complaint.  I can't believe him as a father.  Totally not his fault and he was cute with the kid but it just didn't sit right with me. 

The kid's hair was less ginger in the movie than this screencap.

If you go to the movie don't have high expectations and you'll be pleased.  I am not a fan of torture porn or those found-footage movies (though I am interested in the new show The River) but I am a fan of scary movies.  This one scared me.  The scares were kind of obvious and forced at times but they worked.  Oh and if you do go see it I want to share something funny with you:

The actress on the left, the incredibly talented Janet McTeer, is 6'1".  DanRad is not.  Of course this doesn't make me love him any less.