The Woman In Black

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I like thrillers. Especially action thrillers and psycho thrillers, but not ghostly horror thrillers. Be it Korean, Japanese, Thailand or Malaysian horror movies, it's just the same. Why? Because I won't be watching them good enough...as part of the scenes can only be seen between my fingers. I find it not beneficial to needlessly scare myself with gross images and aimlessly shocking my heart. A bad horror movie, to me, is the one laced with comedy, and those that is full with shocking elements without any solid story lines. 

So, I kinda regretted my decision to watch The Woman In Black without properly knowing that there's ghosts involved. However, I could still accept it (except some that were blocked with my fingers). There's a sensible story line, albeit a simple and direct one, actually, but digestible to the mind. Shocking elements? Not excessive, but good. The proof is the amount of screams by fellow viewers. So, lets go to the story...

I'd say that there are only one main character for the whole story. Arthur Kipps. Kipps is a young lawyer in the 19th century London, troubled and not having peace since the death of his wife while in childbirth. However, their baby survived and is now a cute and adorable 4 year old Joseph. One day, Kipps is assigned to manage an old manor called the Eel Marsh, remotely located on a small island in the marshes, near a village. However, since his arrival to the village, Kipps never receive a warm welcome from the villagers, except for Mr. Daily. 

While working at the house, Kipps is disturbed by many mysterious occurrences, including the sightings of a woman clad in a black dress. However, as he works on the papers in the house, he finds out the secret behind the family who owned the house before and the deaths occurred near the house. The house owners were Alice and Charles Drablow, who lived there with their 7-year-old son. However, their son died because of drowning in an accident in the marshes. The body was never recovered. From the documents in the house, Kipps finds out that there is more in the story of the death and the relationship between the woman in black and the Drablow family.

Meanwhile in the village, child deaths occurred right after the Kipps mysterious sightings of the woman in black. It seems that in the past, there has been many deaths occurring involving the children of the families in the village, including Mr. Daily's son. Those children seems to die in accidental situation, but everybody know that it is not what it looks to be. Little by little, Kipps and Mr. Daily, although he doesn't want to believe it, know that these deaths has everything to do with the woman in black and the hideous history happened in the house before.

Prior to the visit, Kipps has arranged for his son and the nanny to join him in the village. Knowing the story, and the danger that comes with it, Kipps tries to stop them from coming but cannot give them the news. Now, he has to do something to avoid his son from harm. What can he do? Will he succeed? But first of all, what is the story behind the mysterious deaths of the children, and who is The Woman In Black?

In the end, it is rather tragic. However, there is a positive element in the negative outcome. As i would like to conclude, that Kipps is actually doing the woman in black a favour, and the woman in black repays his favour. If you are going to watch this movie, try to see if you will agree with me.

Not bad. And not bad to see Daniel Radcliffe in another suit other than Harry Potter's. Oh, and this movie is actually based on a novel of the same name, authored by Susan Hill and has been adapted in stage plays and television film prior to this movie (source of this statement: wiki).