My wife and I watched this 2012 film last night and, though there were some odd incongruities I can’t mention because they give elements of the plot away, it was overall pretty cool! What I really loved about the film was the atmosphere and some of the really cool visuals. The story is a period piece about a lawyer (Daniel Radcliffe, of Harry Potter fame) who has lost his wife and has to raise his child on his own (well, with a nanny), and is sent to a dead woman’s estate (the “Eel Marsh House,” at a cool setting involving tidal washes) to close it out. Of course, the supernatural ensues. This film is produced with several companies, one of which is Hammer Films. I love Hammer films! They have such richly created and stylish worlds to all their productions, and I was not at all disappointed this time around. It was neat to see “Hammer Films” up on a screen again!
Now, this is not like your current crop of flicks that go all gory and hack-and-slash crazy, and I loved that. It was a ghost story. It was psychological and carefully played out. About shadows and reflections and peripheral visions.
Creepy.
That would be the operative word!
Check out this site, and the last video, titled “Classic Ghost Story.” Then catch the film itself, at night, in a dark room….
During afternoon tea, there’s a shift in the air.
A bone-trembling chill that tells you she’s there.
There are those who believe the whole town is cursed.
But the house in the marsh is by far the worst.
What she wants is unknown, but she always comes back.
The specter of darkness, the Woman in Black.
From FirstCovers.com.
Yes, yes, yes! I watched this film right after it came out, and I was very pleased with it. I too am a HUGE Hammer fan, and couldn’t wait to see what modern Hammer would be like. While not as visually stunning as a classic Hammer film (IMHO), that deliciously suspenseful core was still there.
I also enjoyed seeing Radcliff do something adult. It was a little difficult to not just see him as Harry Potter in grownup clothing at first, but he truly did the role justice as a serious actor.
Thanks for highlighting this film. Any fans of classic Hammer should definitely watch it!
Yeah, was really cool seeing the “New Hammer”! I did really love the deeply creepy sets and visuals. Very well done, there. Some of the plot actions didn’t make sense to me, but, oh, whattheheck; I liked the creepiness! And it was neat seeing an adult Radcliffe, though we’d only seen the first Harry Potter (the whole Potter movement never grabbed me; just not into fantasy). Did you notice a lot of “Threes’ in the film? Three windows, three kids, three panels, kinds of thing?
Interesting! No, I can’t say I picked up on the three thing, but you’ve made me want to watch this again! And I’m not a Harry Potter fan per se (never read any of the books), but I have seen all the films and enjoyed them immensely. Great visual appeal and decent, attention-keeping plots. I’ve seen Radcliffe in only one other role — he plays Rudyard Kipling’s son in “My Boy Jack”. Have you seen that? I’m not into war films, but this one I would highly recommend. VERY good.
Hmmm, no, have not caught that. But he plays “dark and brooding” very well! :-]
I’ll see if we still have the movie on DVR, but I found some imdb site that had some discussion topics, and one of them talked about the ending, which I’ll have to watch again. That was one of the incongruities I mentioned earlier, but I don’t remember the “aspect” they talked about….