Sunday morning my sweetie-wife and I caught a matinee presentation of the movie, The Woman In Black. Starring Daniel Radcliff in his first staring turn post-Harry Potter, The Woman In Black is a rational ghost story, going as to even be set in Victorian England, which might be considered the ultimate period for ghostly tales.

I’m a big fan of ghost stories, as I have mentioned in other postings, the ghost is the monster I have always fascinated me. MY favorite horror films are ghost stories, and I have tried my hand at crafting one or two tales.

Arthur Kipps is a young solicitor, struggling with work and raising a son, is desperately trying to recover from his wife’s death. It has been years, but still his life is empty and hollow and the strain is now threatening to cost him his position.

Given one last opportunity to demonstrate his value to the firm, Arthur is sent to put into order the affairs of a client who has passed away. The client, Mrs. Alice Drablow, lived in an manor house, Eel House, which is periodically isolated when the tides rises. Once there, Arthur discovers that the villagers live in terror as their children suffer gruesome deaths, which are blamed on Arthur and his visit.

This production – there have been stage and television production based upon the original source material a 1983 novel of the same title by Susan Hill – is the first film from the recently revived Hammer Studios. Hammer is a name well known to devotees of horror films. Throughout the 50’s 60’s and into the 70’s Hammer made iconic and distinct movie, including a run of Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee and Frankenstein movies starring Peter Cushing.

The Woman in Black in my opinion is a return to form for Hammer. This is not a movie that relies upon elaborate special effects, gruesome violence or gore, but rather on atmosphere, setting, and a nearly noir style of photography to develop tension and suspense for the audience.  The cast is first rate and entirely credible in the role, Radcliff sells Arthur Kipps as a tortured soul with a depth and maturity that speak well of his talents. Ciaran Hinds, as Mr. Daily, the lone rationalist among the villagers is excellent as the voice of reason and logic in a setting where others are ready with the torches.

The only flaw in this film, and it is one others have noted, is that there is frequent, far to frequent, use of sound to startle the audience. This has all the charm of a friend goosing you in the ribs, and actually robs a number of unsettling visuals of their power. There is one sonic blast I would have kept, because after a mostly quiet film, this particular one near the end would have been fitting.

That said, this was a thoroughly enjoyable ghost story with a challenging ending that I’m pleased too have seen and will likely add to my growing library of Blu-rays.