The Woman in Black

My horror film for the day was Herbert Wise's "The Woman in Black." This film was suggested by Mr. Jeff Caxide, the originator of the October Horror Film Binge (at least that's what I'm calling it), as I've been craving a good ghost horror movie this month after I've had a string of slashers the past few days. All in all, I was not disappointed.  The story follows a young lawyer as he is sent to settle the estate of an elderly woman who has died and finds her home and the town outside it haunted with her presence-- i.e. her continued appearances watching him from afar. For a ghost film "The Woman in Black" relies less on sudden, make-you-jump scares and instead uses a heavily foreboding, dark mood, visuals, and, what I found most interesting, sounds to achieve it's horror. The most notable of these being the blood curdling scream heard repeatedly by the lawyer, a resounding sound of a youth and his mothers death, and the audience feels the chills from its piercing scream as well. However, I felt with this being so strong the film never quite reaches this level with any of it's other scenes meant to scare, save perhaps a nighttime visit by the spirit near the end of the film. The film is very strong as well in how it follows the lawyers descent into madness at being cursed with his visions, eventually leading to a very poetic and disturbing end. "The Woman in Black" is a slow burner which I did not mind, but sometimes it does linger too long on one thing or another rather than achieving an even bigger level of fear and intrigue I feel it had the potential for. Seeing the upcoming remake will be an interesting comparison.

8/10