The Woman in Whack?

Hey there guys! Man does it feel good to be back on aovw writing again. Ahh yeah that feels good. MMMMMMMMM YEAH. It's been a hectic month or so in my life, and I haven't really had a good chance to sit down and write up something nice for you beautiful people. Between starting up classes again, and losing my grandfather, it has been really busy. But hey guess what? I'm not going to talk about video games this time! Can I get a collective whoop whoop?

So I'm going to be honest with you guys right now. I have a writing for criticism class right now, and I'm going to recycle a paper I had to write on "The Woman in Black" that new movie starring Harry Potter.  I'm telling you this out of guilt, and also to cover my bases in case my teacher stumbles upon this post and believe that I committed a treacherous act of plagiarism.  So is it good, or is it bad? WHO KNOWS? YOU HAVE TO CLICK TO FIND OUT!

Evidently they saw this movie. 

As the price of going to the movies seemingly increases each year, the prospect of going to see a film you’ve never heard of becomes a much bigger financial risk. If you want to have the complete movie-going experience complete with the price of the ticket, some popcorn, and of course a friend, you are going to need to spend upwards of around 30 dollars. It's a dangerous game of chance and one that I sadly played with the film “The Woman in Black”. 

Immediately as the film begins, two things strike me as problematic. Perhaps it is the cultural distance, but I have never found early 20^th century England to be a very scary setting. With the exception to of few good Jack the Ripper stories, I almost always find that time period in England to be drab and unappealing. Let's face it, mutton chops are goofy. 

I'm aint even scurred

 The second and perhaps most important problem with this film is Daniel Radcliffe himself. It's not that Radcliffe is particularly bad in this film, but rather his star status continually draws me out of the experience. Radcliffe has been so linked with the Harry Potter character that trying to see him as anything else is more of a challenge for the audience than the actor himself. I also understand that people tended to have children at a younger age in this time period, but I am still not able to accept Radcliffe as a father. 

Didn't work here either

Even though Radcliffe does not manage to come off as a believable father figure, he does keep the film going by providing a reasonably good performance, assuming you can get past his familiar face. For large portions of this film Radcliffe is acting alone, and he does a commendable job for most of those scenes although he sometimes seems a bit bored, failing to react properly to some of the scares. You would think he would be used to this type of acting considering the amount of computerized monsters he had to deal with in the “Harry Potter” films.

While Radcliffe's performance occasionally hits a few hiccups, no amount of solid acting could have compensated for the film's lack of direction and originality. “The Woman in Black” while dressed in gruesome imagery lacks substance and fails to deliver on that promise of horror with anything but cheap jump-scares. When I go to a scary movie, I desire an experience that leaves me feeling unsettled or creeped out. “The Woman in Black” is the equivalent of a friend who has decided to scream off and on for an hour and a half—it may scare you the first time but after a while, you will begin to get annoyed. The film relies so heavily on loud noises and screaming that I was getting really angry towards the middle. It doesn't help that the filmmakers themselves don't even seem concerned with building an atmosphere. A few of the scares are clearly not even intended to serve a purpose within the film's universe and instead, seem to serve as an example of the film's own insecurities about its lack of depth.

 For those of you who just watched that clip, I can safely say you are not frightened, but thoroughly pissed off. My point exactly. Modern mainstream horror films should look at “The Woman in Black” as an example of what not to do. Sure, filling your film to the brim with generic ghost imagery may make for a great trailer, but just like a Halloween haunted house, those looking for a real scare will leave disappointed. 

 WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAAM. Well that was it folks, but hey if you have some strange desire to see this movie despite my warnings, that's cool too. I'm sure somebody will get something from it. Anywho, thanks for listening guys, and as always I stay safe!