The Woman in Black (2012)

  Despite what she now claims, Christy volunteered this movie yesterday.  Under her stipulations, we watched it at 10 a.m. with as much sunlight as I could tolerate.  I settled back in my chair, ready for some Insidious-style riposting and jeers.  It became clear about 20 minutes in, however, that my compatriot would not be joining my mirth.

Y'all, she spent the entire movie hiding her eyes under her blanket and clutching her stuffed animal.  Every time anything creepy happened she would make this "hunh" noise like she just got punched in the solar plexus.  It was almost as distracting as it was hilarious.

Arthur (Daniel Radcliffe) is a young widower with a four-year-old to take care of and mounting debts.  His law firm boss (Roger Allam) warns him that they don't do charity and that Arthur needs to get his ass out to Eel Marsh House and clear out the property so it can be sold as the local solicitor (Tim McMullen) has been less than helpful.  Leaving his son and nanny behind, Arthur catches a train to the Northeast.  People in the town are incredibly unfriendly and over-protective of their kids, mostly because their sprouts just keep dying in bizarre ways.  The villagers do everything short of press-ganging Arthur in an attempt to get him out of there.  Undaunted, he proceeds up to the manor which is in the middle of the marsh and can only be accessed by causeway at low tide.  Creepy things happen around him but he manages to brush them off.  Then, one of the local children drinks a bottle of lye and another one sets herself on fire, which suddenly makes that whole "thought I saw a woman in black standng out in the mist" thing a lot more tangible.  Arthur starts to unravel the mystery but will he be in time to save his own son?

As ghost stories go, I will give this one top marks for atmosphere.  It sets a great tone without being in-your-face.  The creature effects are nicely done with some genuinely creepy imagery.  Plotwise, however, there are a lot of unanswered questions and Daniel Radcliffe felt incredibly wooden in the role.  Ultimately, that demoted this from a movie I would own but it was still fun to watch.  I'm choosing to interpret Christy's whimpering and fear-sweat as marks of enjoyment. 

From what I understand, they are hard at work on a sequel, titled The Woman in Black:  Angels of Death that is due out in 2014.  Given how close they were to greatness here, I will give them a repeat shot when that comes out.