NICK WALL Enlarge Image

Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black.

Atmosphere. Mood. Scenario. Pace. Build-up. It’s nice to see a movie these days that shows filmmakers remain familiar with such concepts.
   
The Woman in Black will undoubtedly attract business simply on account of curiosity: the movie stars Daniel Radcliffe in his first starring role following the conclusion of the Harry Potter saga. As much as star power draws these days, the movie has it built in.
   
While Radcliffe is rather good, having matured into a solid young actor over the last decade, he’s hardly the only reason to see the picture. This is a visually arresting, sombre ghost movie with spectacular sights and a level of narrative assuredness that keeps us hooked. To call it old-fashioned would be a compliment.
   
Radcliffe is Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer and father in turn-of-the-century London whose wife dies in childbirth. Grief-stricken, he’s assigned to attend the details of a rich woman’s death in a remote village. The estate he’s required to visit is one of the most amazing locations I’ve seen: a vast manor rising out of the shallows of the sea, the road to which is washed out daily by the tide.
   
When he first arrives, however, he finds the hospitality nonexistent. "My firm telegraphed ahead," Kipps says. The place is fully booked, the innkeeper insists. "Unless you want to put ’im in the attic," the man finally mumbles to his too-accommodating wife.
   
What Kipps discovers is that the village’s children are dying — specifically, whenever they see the ghostly woman in black said to live in the isolated manor. Not all of the locals believe such bosh — but when Kipps himself sees the spectre, things begin happening…
   
Clever moments abound, as when the camera switches to a POV shot from a second-floor window, tacitly confirming that there is indeed something up there.
   
By contrast, there are perhaps too many manufactured shock moments (although one  particular bit involving a rocking chair is admittedly effective). It reflects an unfortunate lack of confidence that Watkins so often tingles our spines in satisfyingly understated fashion yet still feels compelled to throw in gratuitous "SCREE SCREE SCREE" highlights. Maybe the producers insisted, I don’t know.
   
Nonetheless, The Woman in Black remains  an entertaining film that assumes we have patience and intelligence. Suspense, density of narrative and the slow reveal remain so much better than the cheap payoff. Thankfully, this movie remembers that.