The Woman in Black
CBS Films | Release Date: February 3, 2012
6.4
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 344 Ratings
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194
Mixed:
110
Negative:
40
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5
johnbobs1Feb 24, 2021
If this supernatural horror was as effective as it looked, it would be damn scary. Cinematography, including locations and early 20th century authenticity are excellent. Sound effects are well used and create an atmosphere of tenseness. WhereIf this supernatural horror was as effective as it looked, it would be damn scary. Cinematography, including locations and early 20th century authenticity are excellent. Sound effects are well used and create an atmosphere of tenseness. Where it falls down is with the scares, which are predictable and unoriginal in their execution. Not badly though out, just not scary. Radcliffe's acting also adds to the slow and somewhat tedious feel of the film, and although it's a reserved performance, he brings no charisma or interest to the role and looks a bit lost. Backup acting is also weak. comprising an out of place Mance raider from game of thrones and Ron from goodnight sweetheart among others. The story is simplistic, but too clichéd. I've seen worse, but if you're an avid horror film fan, this film presents 90 minutes of scare free mediocrity.… Expand
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7
horcrux2007Feb 8, 2015
It had some pretty scary parts in the middle part of the movie, and I liked the story, setting, and atmosphere of the movie. It feels like a more traditional haunted house movie than most newer ones. I did like this overall, but I guess I wasIt had some pretty scary parts in the middle part of the movie, and I liked the story, setting, and atmosphere of the movie. It feels like a more traditional haunted house movie than most newer ones. I did like this overall, but I guess I was hoping for a little bit more since a lot of the scares fell flat at the end of the movie. Speaking of the ending, I did really like the ending. I recommend it.… Expand
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8
GuillermoBMJan 16, 2015
Summary: The Woman in Black is an old-fashioned horror film with a well handled suspense. 82/100 [B+]

The Woman in Black is directed by James Watkins and it's a remake of the eponymous 1989 movie based on the book by Susan Hill. Moving on,Summary: The Woman in Black is an old-fashioned horror film with a well handled suspense. 82/100 [B+]

The Woman in Black is directed by James Watkins and it's a remake of the eponymous 1989 movie based on the book by Susan Hill. Moving on, the opening scene is strange and creepy, I liked it. Anyway, I have to admit that the first act was kinda slow and a little bit boring. Surprisingly, the second half is more violent, intense and suspenseful. Also, I liked the performances, Daniel Radcliffe performs a single dad called Arthur Kipps and another standout performances were from Ciarán Hinds and Janet McTeer. I also loved the old-fashioned style of the film, it has a splendid selection of period furniture and costume design.

The Woman in Black boasts an impressive level of terror, the atmosphere of the film is frightening and most of the scares were unpredictable. Also, the sound effects were terrific and so well done. It has no gore, but instead of that, it delivers so many effective scares, I almost died! There was enough originality on its surprises. Even though I have to admit that this horror movie is more of the same crap, I mean: the loud noises, things moving by itself and creepy shadows; still scary as hell! Yeah, it doesn't offer something new to the horror genre, but still terrifying. Also, the stunning camera work increases the dread at times.

I'm glad that Watkins decided to use practical effects instead of cheap CGI. The Woman in Black is a movie that does not look crappy or cheaply done. In spite of its modest budget, the production was splendid. Moving on, as I said above the film counts with a very creepy sound design, the loud noises are constant but they came at the right times and efficiently. I saw this film in the morning and it scared the crap out of me, my point here is that it doesn't matter if you see it during the day or at night, it will scare the hell out of you. Watkins proves that he is a talented director and I just hope to know more about him soon. What a horror flick!

On the upside: the ending was strangely awesome, the house is creepy as hell (the rooms and empty hallways add some spookiness to the film), it has excellent performances and the production design was great. On the downside: a few jump-scares were unnecessary and the first 30 minutes are boring as hell. So, in conclusion, I recommend it for horror fans and non-horror fans. Woman in Black is an audience pleaser and the perfect film to watch with some friends at night. Although it doesn't offer something fresh or new to the genre, it keeps the tension for most of the time and there's a very scary sequence at the first 50 minutes. [B+]… Expand
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1
TheRocksBarneyJan 7, 2015
“The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death” is terrible. Absolutely terrible. I cannot believe that I spent 98 minutes of my life and that the majority of people in that screen had paid money, money that they had most likely WORKED AN HOUR FOR“The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death” is terrible. Absolutely terrible. I cannot believe that I spent 98 minutes of my life and that the majority of people in that screen had paid money, money that they had most likely WORKED AN HOUR FOR considering how most were round about my age on such ABSOLUTE RUBBISH. Something that has the bollocks to call itself a film. The guys who made that film must have been laughing since its release on New Year’s Day as much as Michael Bay did when Transformers: Age of Extinction was the highest-grossing film of 2014. Anyway… What really lets the film down is. NO **** ANYWAY THIS FILM IS SO BAD. The cast is terrible and so is the plot. Man. *sigh*.

I quite enjoyed “The Woman in Black”. It had a decent and proven plot, as seen in the original success of the book with the same name written by Susan Hill, and with the stage play, as well as a decent lead in the form of Daniel Radcliffe in his first role since the “Harry Potter” series. BUT, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed, I THOUGHT THIS FILM WAS TERRIBLE. Such a let-down. The plot of this film is set in 1941 and follows Eve Parkins (played by Phoebe Fox) and her stereotypically stern boss Jean Hogg (played by Helen McCroy) as they are evacuated along with a group of children up north to Eel Marsh House, where the first film was set. Its promising at first but by the end of the film nothings really happened…? Where the plot is somehow possibly a little bit better than terrible is where it introduces the concept that Eve could turn into the Woman in Black or where we see Harry Burnstow (played by Harry Irvine) stopping and having some sort of seizure hallway down the road to Eel Marsh House which is a key plot aspect for about half of the film. I was waiting to know what was wrong with Harry. Was the Woman in Black having his way with him, morphing him into some sort of sidekick? No. Of course not. BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE GOOD. Instead, guess what? HE IS JUST SCARED OF WATER. THAT WAS A KEY PLOT FOR HALF THE FILM! And this is just the first half of the film. THE SECOND HALF IS TERRIBLE TOO. From Eel Marsh House to a fake RAF airfield and then back to Eel Marsh House with a load of RUBBISH in between.

And guess what, that’s all that seems to be between the cast members ears. RUBBISH. It’s what came out of their mouths too. The performances AS YOU WOULD PROBABLY GUESS are also terrible. Everyone is TERRIBLE. The only person I possibly liked was Harry. And that was only because I had a bit of a man crush on him. I mean he was quite a cool pilot. OH NO I MEAN RUNNER OF A FAKE AIRFIELD WHO IS SCARED OF WATER. There are no characters. I didn’t care about anyone. Man I mean I wanted Eve to ****ing die at the end. Man **** that film.

The film ultimately relies on jump scares throughout and although I am extremely vulnerable to those there were only about 3 good ones in the entire film and one of them was one of those false ones where this kid with a ****ING SAUCEPAN ON HIS HEAD OR SOMETHING DECIDED TO ****ING SCREAM AT THE CAMERA. There was 1 that made me jump. And guess what? It was one that was entirely unrelated to the plot with a little girl and an old man just holding a finger to their mouths to the camera. You know what the best bit of the film was? The END. Oh, and the bit where one woman screamed out at a bit of wood falling in the background which prompted the whole audience to burst out laughing. I feel sorry for those who were involved with this film. It was just too bad. And man I liked the first film. The reason I’ve given it two stars is because of how the film does well to take make it look like it is 1941. But don’t worry because the cinematography is TERRIBLE. FOR ****S SAKE I COULDN’T READ WHAT ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS (who was mute) WAS WRITING DOWN FOR THE ENTIRE FILM!

DAMMIT I HAVE JUST REALISED I HAVE BEEN TRICKED INTO WASTING MORE OF MY TIME ON THIS **** FILM.… Expand
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8
UrbanlistenerNov 23, 2015
As for all the better horror flicks, the scariest things are the ones you don't actually see. On that aspect this movie delivers, it relies mostly on a solid storyline, good acting, ambiance, atmosphere, music, creepy imagery and spookyAs for all the better horror flicks, the scariest things are the ones you don't actually see. On that aspect this movie delivers, it relies mostly on a solid storyline, good acting, ambiance, atmosphere, music, creepy imagery and spooky objects rather than jumpscares and loud sounds or a direct exposition to the main demon, at least not until the third act. Sure there is one or two loud sounds to make you jump, but it is mostly a ambiance film and this is how a good horror flick should be done.… Expand
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6
spencieMar 26, 2018
This movie should have sucked but it didn't. The Woman in Black is full of fantastic scares and actually gave me nightmares. It drags on a bit at times and prolongs scenes that aren't interesting, but overall I thought it was a very goodThis movie should have sucked but it didn't. The Woman in Black is full of fantastic scares and actually gave me nightmares. It drags on a bit at times and prolongs scenes that aren't interesting, but overall I thought it was a very good horror movie.… Expand
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8
SAVJul 27, 2015
Remake dell'omonimo film del 1989, The Woman in Black è una fascinosa e appassionante storia di fantasmi tratta dal celebre romanzo gotico dell'autrice britannica Susan Hill. Il film si svolge durante i primi anni del 900 ed ha perRemake dell'omonimo film del 1989, The Woman in Black è una fascinosa e appassionante storia di fantasmi tratta dal celebre romanzo gotico dell'autrice britannica Susan Hill. Il film si svolge durante i primi anni del 900 ed ha per protagonista Arthur Kipps, un giovane legale rimasto vedovo subito dopo la nascita del figlio. Arthur, per motivi di lavoro, si ritroverà costretto ad alloggiare in una inquietante magione abbandonata e si ritroverà così ad aver a che fare con uno spirito maligno con le sembianze di una donna vestita a lutto. Film dell'orrore entusiasmante che sa regalare più di un brivido e fa saltare dallo spavento in più di un occasione. Consigliatissimo a chi, come il sottoscritto, ama le storie sui fantasmi e sulle case infestate.… Expand
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7
FilmQueenOct 27, 2015
First of all, I want to say that I have not read the book, so my opinion is based only on this film. I am usually not a big fan of this supernatural "the dead can't rest, they are haunting etc." subject in films, but I quite liked this one,First of all, I want to say that I have not read the book, so my opinion is based only on this film. I am usually not a big fan of this supernatural "the dead can't rest, they are haunting etc." subject in films, but I quite liked this one, because I think they did a good job. The atmosphere is spooky, so much that it's not a problem that in fact little happens. I also loved that old house, they choose beautiful old furnitures, the whole thing looked really good and scary at the same time.… Expand
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6
aadityamudharApr 18, 2016
While The Woman in Black is able to scare and keep the audience feeling tense throughout it achieves this through the use of common cheap horror techniques. Jump scares, POV shots, shallow depth-of-field e.t.c. The plot also fails to satisfy,While The Woman in Black is able to scare and keep the audience feeling tense throughout it achieves this through the use of common cheap horror techniques. Jump scares, POV shots, shallow depth-of-field e.t.c. The plot also fails to satisfy, the scares seem pointless and tell us nothing more than: the village is haunted. At times it feels like a mystery movie with elements of horror poured on to appeal to a larger demographic. It probably would have been better off as a mystery drama because the scenes that weren't centered around pointless scares were much more compelling. The Woman in Black will appeal to people simply looking for a scary movie but will be slightly underwhelming for others.… Expand
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7
BarneyOnMTJan 5, 2016
WHAT I LIKED: A sophisticated, story driven, classic horror movie with jumpy moments and exciting tension. It might not be the most scary or gory horror film, but in a genre dominated with fairly bland attempts to shock and frighten, it'sWHAT I LIKED: A sophisticated, story driven, classic horror movie with jumpy moments and exciting tension. It might not be the most scary or gory horror film, but in a genre dominated with fairly bland attempts to shock and frighten, it's refreshing to see a film driven by character
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Sadly not so 'plot' driven - the second act of this film does get a little dull after a while as the same man creeping around the same house can only be made so interesting.
VERDICT: A good classic horror, that appeals thanks to the mystery of the story.… Expand
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9
shiftworkerAug 22, 2016
Beautifully dark, sharp and Gothic. Half the cast looks pale enough to drop dead with consumption at any moment, but first an angry ghost must have their wicked way. The sort of movie that has you looking twice at every shadow. To be watchedBeautifully dark, sharp and Gothic. Half the cast looks pale enough to drop dead with consumption at any moment, but first an angry ghost must have their wicked way. The sort of movie that has you looking twice at every shadow. To be watched in the dark and followed by a long walk outside.… Expand
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9
alejandro970Feb 11, 2018
Shivering horror movie about an afterlife revenge, with same spirit of Hammer classics. Knows as well how scare without dumb, cheap resources. One of best efforts of a Daniel Radcliffe "post Harry Potter".
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5
LoletinAlexisMar 7, 2019
The Woman in Black does her job offering an enjoyable movie, but it falls short with an almost non-existent tension and some scares that have disappointed me a lot. The screamers are disappointing, and Radcliffe's performance, if worked well,The Woman in Black does her job offering an enjoyable movie, but it falls short with an almost non-existent tension and some scares that have disappointed me a lot. The screamers are disappointing, and Radcliffe's performance, if worked well, but could have been better.… Expand
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8
FilipeNetoFeb 12, 2018
This film tells the story of Arthur Kipps, a widower lawyer who has a son. In an effort to find a document in the home of a client who died, Kipps disturbs a mysterious and vengeful entity that kills children in the nearby village. FromThis film tells the story of Arthur Kipps, a widower lawyer who has a son. In an effort to find a document in the home of a client who died, Kipps disturbs a mysterious and vengeful entity that kills children in the nearby village. From there, he will have to face the wrath of this supernatural force, the fear of the villagers and his own fear.

Directed by James Watkins, this psychological horror film messes with what we consider more valuable: the children and their safety. This fact is important for the film to be as daunting as it is: no one wants to see an innocent child suffer. The main role is played by Daniel Radcliffe (the eternal Harry Potter), who manages to comes into our hearts by the ingenuity and innate goodness that his character shows. We can see that he doesn't realize what is happening and he want no harm to anyone. And like him, the audience only understands all the facts in middle of the movie. Curious fact: we never see the face of the "woman in black" long enough for us to fully realizing its features.

This film has excellent visual and sound effects and a gloomy, hazy photography that just makes us even more nervous and apprehensive. The ambiance, decor, toys, everything should be welcoming in a family home is, in this film, used to enlarge our sense of discomfort. Do not see it alone.… Expand
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10
User32189Oct 1, 2020
The best horror movie I have seen in a while it has a great atmosphere and it is overall an amazing movie.
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