When widower Arthur Kipps (an alarmingly young Daniel Radcliffe) is sent from Victorian London to settle a dead woman’s affairs, he finds himself in a haunted house that feels borrowed from a cheap TV movie.Attempts to set this dismal scene consist mostly of filling the screen with fog and zooming in on blank-faced children wearing costumes that look like an insulting afterthought. But more depressing than these technical missteps is the film’s inability to scare.
Despite the hostile welcome the downtrodden Kipps receives, there is only so much tension to be built from the vague words of townspeople. Any hint of foreboding or twinge of fright is smothered by sheer repetition; the first few shots of faces staring from windows may be creepy, but they soon become tiresome. Even the house itself has little to offer outside of lazy special effects and eerie toys that quickly lose their shock value. Though extended wordless portions without groaningly creaky dialogue like “When we die, we go up there,” would seem merciful, they only feel dreadfully slow, adding to an already plodding pace.
Although admittedly there are jumpy moments, they are merely startling—never scary—for much of being scared involves having something to lose, and with a premise so thoroughly lame and unsatisfying, there is never anything to chill the spine.
Radcliffe’s performance, though a committed descent into dishevelment, is wasted on a role that calls only for lighting candles and looking sad.
Despite its production by the company responsible for “Hammer Horror,” the scariest part of The Woman in Black is imagining that this portends post-Potter pictures.
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The Woman in Black 1.5/5 stars Directed by: James Watkins Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds 95 min.
