Daniel Radcliffe‘s first movie since completing his 10-year run as Harry Potter is an outstanding, yet underrated, horror movie. 2012’s The Woman in Black adapts Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same title and delivers tons of memorable terrors. Directed by James Watkins, the film stars Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps, a lawyer and single father to his young son Joseph (Misha Handley). Set in early-1900s England, The Woman in Black follows Arthur, who, with his job on the line, is tasked with collecting documents from the abandoned Eel Marsh House in a remote village following the death of its proprietor. Upon arriving at the house, Arthur begins seeing a mysterious woman while several children in the town perish under strange circumstances. After speaking with locals scouring materials found in Eel Marsh House, Arthur discovers that the woman is the ghost of a vengeful mother who died by suicide after her young son drowned in the nearby marsh while in her sister’s care. The apparition possesses children to take their own lives, and Arthur strives to end her torment of the village’s families and save his own child from her wrath.
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The Woman in Black is a genuinely terrifying horror movie, elevated by unnerving visuals and detailed set design. While succeeding as a classic haunted house story, The Woman in Black‘s narrative also has a surprisingly poignant ending. Sequel The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, released in 2014, however, failed to achieve the frights of its predecessor, thus ending the franchise for good. Nonetheless, The Woman in Black remains a superb work of horror even though it hasn’t received the acclaim it deserves.
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The Woman in Black Has All of the Qualities of a Great Horror Movie
The Woman in Black tells a simple yet remarkably effective horror story. Landing all of the necessary traits of a top-notch paranormal tale, the film’s success starts with its imagery. The titular specter is undeniably creepy, as she most often appears as a face in a window or standing still, wearing a black dress, bonnet, and veil — underneath which one can see her pale face and dark eyes. Additionally, Eel Marsh’s gothic design serves as a perfectly haunted house. Lying alone surrounded by trees, marshlands, and a graveyard, the property’s ragged exterior radiates an ominous air. Inside, creepy dolls and antiques populate the gloomy, disheveled rooms.
Beyond The Woman in Black‘s presentation, the movie delivers some horrifying scenes. The scariest sequence happens during a rainy night at Eel Marsh House when Arthur peers out an upstairs window to view a child emerge from the marsh and walk toward the house. The front door’s handle jiggles furiously, and Arthur opens the door, finding numerous undead children standing in the yard, vacantly staring at him. Back inside, small muddy footprints paint the floor, and Arthur follows them upstairs. In a room, he sees a woman hanging from a rope, followed by a mud-covered child’s face screaming at him. Expertly crafted with an eerie atmosphere, frightening imagery, and a jump scare or two, the series of events epitomizes the type of terror a great horror movie should induce in viewers.
An equally disturbing sequence occurs when Arthur runs in to save a young girl trapped inside of a burning building, only to find her standing in place holding an oil lamp. The woman dressed in black appears menacingly in the background before the child shatters the lamp at her feet, engulfing her in flames. As if the Woman in Black wasn’t frightening enough, the film concludes on a heartbreaking note. Following his effort to retrieve the ghoulish woman’s deceased son from the marsh and reunite the two, Arthur meets Joseph and his nanny at the nearby train station, preparing to immediately return to London. Suddenly, the woman in black shows up, and Arthur’s son wanders onto the tracks in front of an approaching train. Arthur jumps down to save Joseph, but they are both struck by the train. The two are then seen in the afterlife reuniting with Arthur’s wife, who died giving birth to Joseph.
Radcliffe shows off his range in The Woman in Black, as the Harry Potter star conforms well to the gothic, horror-tinged backdrop. In his portrayal of Arthur, Radcliffe exudes subtle signs of fear that mesh with the character’s resolve to complete his daunting task in hopes of keeping his job and keeping his son alive. Furthermore, Ciarán Hinds and Janet McTeer deliver impressive performances as the local married couple who Arthur meets in the village.
The Woman in Black‘s Traditional Approach to Horror Makes it a Timeless Classic
Everyone loves a traditional haunted house ghost story, though not all are well-executed. The Woman in Black takes a classic yet supremely competent approach to the horror genre. It doesn’t attempt anything overly outside the box, but The Woman in Black manages to both intrigue and terrify audiences through the commonplace methods of jump scares and creepy visuals. Too often, horror movies overuse clichés or over-complicate stories, but The Woman in Black‘s straightforward strategy never loses sight of what makes horror so fascinating. Easily among the most underappreciated horror movies of the last 15 years, The Woman in Black elevates its gripping source material through a grim ambience, nightmare-inducing scares and a devastating gut punch to complete its spooky tale. As a result, The Woman in Black proves that when done right, the classic haunted house tale hasn’t lost its luster. The movie has aged impeccably, too, as it feels refreshing to return to an exquisite conventional scary movie in 2025.
The Woman in Black is currently available to stream for free on Pluto TV.
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