Movie Review: The Woman In Black (2012)

Title: The Woman in Black

Director: James Watkins

Year Released: 2012

Running Time: 95mins

Classification: M

Genre: Horror, Drama, Thriller

After reading the book, I decided to give the 2012 The Woman in Black movie a try. The movie did not stay completely true to the book, however the changes made improved the process of the storyline and in some ways gave the audience a restful ending (or maybe just for me).

*I've also done a review on the book written by Susan Hill for anyone who is interested. I strongly suggest you read the book first before watching the movie.*

Unlike the book, the movie starts straight in the midst of the horror with the deaths of 3 children and the presence of the woman in black. The genre is set and the mystery begins.

Daniel Radcliffe portrays a convincing Arthur Kipps, characteristically. Thanks to Radcliffe’s previous movies (namely Harry Potter), appearance wise he looks too short to be a man and too young to have a child however as the movie progresses, his appearance is forgotten, replaced by his acting

There are some minor changes to the characters in the movie and some added surprises that, if you are the fan of the book, may or may not like. I personally thought the changes gave the movie more to play on and had to be done to make the movie longer and more visually interesting.

The biggest change is the existence of Arthur’s son. Arthur’s wife dies from childbirth and leaves him with their son. This happens at the start of the story and it is his son who propels the story further than the ending written in the book. (For those who haven't read the book, Arthur's son is not born until the end of the story).

In the book, Arthur lacks action and is left frightened; in the movie he attempts to solve the horror to save his son. To do this, the script writers included a thorough explanation of the woman’s history and existence and showed the consequences when one meddles with her. 

I preferred the changes. The book was brief and did not have as much death as a horror reader would have liked. I also preferred the ending. The ending can be considered happy depending on how you look at it. There is proper finish to Arthur’s story. As for the woman, it can not be sure what truly happens to her.

The actors, houses, locations are all perfect for the era and Eel Marsh House looks exactly as described in the book. Even the marsh lands look perfect. The colour of the movie stays dimly light and foggy, blending into the costumes.

This horror film plays heavily on noise. Without the sudden knocking, whispering and scary music, this movie would not be a horror. The noises were perfectly timed and will definitely make the audience jump in their seats. 

Just remember, if you are looking for something a bit more visually frightening you might want to skip this movie.

I spent most of the movie with my eyes under the pillow and hands clapped around my ears (I hate scary films). The reason I continued watching was to see why the woman did the things she did (even though I have read the book, the movie explained this more clearly with some extra touches) and how everything was resolved. I was much more satisfied with this altered story then the book. 

As much as I enjoyed the book, I preferred the altered storyline of the movie. The storyline in the book was simpler and was perfect for a short novel. For a movie, the changes enhanced what the book already had and added more dimensions.

This movie is not for everyone. For anyone who likes the more mystery horror stories, I suggest you give it a try but if you are looking for something fast-paced with more gore, try something else (you will most likely find this movie boring).

Terri's Rating: 3.5/5

I do not like scary movies, so the rating is based predominately on the storyline and the cinematic effects.

Book Review: The Woman in Black

Title: The Woman in Black
Author: Susan Hill

Year Published: 1983

Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Gothic

A junior solicitor by the name Arthur Kipps is summoned to attend the funeral of Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House. It is not until he sees a strange woman dressed in black wondering the premises that he realises the cold, dark uneasiness of Eel Marsh House is not just from the marsh lands nearby, but from the presence of something evil.  

*This review is purely from the book itself and not the movie.*

The pros about a horror novel is the reader can stop when it gets too ‘scary’ and, depending on their imagination, the supernatural world can be altered for the ‘less brave’: rather than having a pitch black room, add a tiny window for some extra natural light etc.

That’s how I get through a horror novel; however I did not need to utilise my own advice for The Woman in Black. There is horror and the supernatural, but the main reason to read the book is for the ‘why’ and the 'end'.

The Woman in Black starts with Arthur explaining his present life after the incident before talking about the past. From the first couple of pages it is clear Arthur survived the ordeal and lives a normal life, of course still been haunted by bad memories. By starting like this, the story loses some suspense on what happens to the main character. To find him living normally doesn’t make his experience serious or frightening enough for the story to be terrifying. I would have prefered if Susan Hill had just dived straight into the main story.     

There is a slow build up in the first part of the novel. From his present describing how he wishes not to mention the past and to the start of the past, the story trugs along. Something’s going to happen but when…… I found myself thinking.

Keep in mind this book is fairly short. Only 200 pages so the first half is more than bearable.

The second half is when things get exciting, from hearing strange noises, phantom winds and … obviously…. seeing a woman in black. It is like a dark cloud has descended into that half of the book, refusing to leave and making the reader wanting to know ‘what happened and why’ desperately. I loved the sudden noises, the uncertainty of where the cold wind is from and the old creepy house. Having the story told from Arthur’s voice and his descriptions makes the story more visually and mentally enhancing.

The Woman in Black is set during the Edwardian era (1901-1910) which just adds to the haunting texture of the book.

The ending was a surprise. I like it and I hate it.

Please skip to the next paragraph to avoid spoilers.

The idea of the unsolved evil bothers me. I like that it’s not a happy ending, but I hate the story of this woman still lingering around the town and house taking lives. I think I would have been more content with the story still lingering if Arthur’s future, after the incident, wasn’t so normal and he was mentally shredded from the experience. He would be one of the many that were and will be victims of the Woman in black. 

But on a happy point, the story is set so precisely during a specific era, a specific place and a specific kind of evil that after reading it, the Woman in black should not suddenly (with no help of the imagination) appear in front of you thanks to the story being so well grounded with no link to the present day (unless Eel Marsh House does exist).

I would love it if Susan Hill made this novel longer and maybe stretched the suspense a bit further. I didn’t get enough of the book especially near the end. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good scare but does not want to read a long novel.

After reading this, I am so looking forward to seeing the movie.

Terri's Rating: 3.5/5

Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Title: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Year released: 2012

Running Time: 105 mins

Classification: R

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror

Even the thought of Abraham Lincoln being a vampire hunting is preposterous and they decide on making it a non-comedy. Did it deliver? NO.

For anyone who doesn’t know this already, Abraham Lincoln was the 16^th President of the United States and is famously known for ending slavery. He was assassinated in 1865.

Oh and he hunted vampires.

For a movie like this, I expected action and/or horror and/or comedy. From the trailer, it didn’t seem like a horror or comedy. Even so the trailer looked good. It made the title Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter look appealing...... ok so maybe just appealing to me. I was disappointed. 

Personally I am not a big fan of vampire movies, but I’ve seen enough to know how standard vampire movies are. I know vampires are not real therefore vampire hunters are not real, but in the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter world they are. The vampires still have super strength etc etc and humans are still boring with no special power. So, how can a measly human boy fight vampires without any chemical/biological/technological help?

We start with a young Abraham getting thrown into walls by a ‘bullet in one eye socket’ vampire to a older Abraham throwing vampires out of trains with no assistance. No ‘super strength biological serum’ injection was used and no advanced technology was used. This does not sound plausible.

I get that most people watch it for the action and don’t mind if there’s no reason to Abraham’s super strength but I’m just one of those people who believe if you’re going to make a movie, don’t make it sloppy.

These vampires are not very convincing either. Be romantic or be scary. The vampires in this movie just confuse me. I wasn’t sure if they healed or were just immortal with a human shell. They weren’t particularly scary and obviously not romantic. (Which is fine since vampires are a type of walking dead. Why would anyone fall in love with a corpse? I don’t care how good looking they are.) It felt like the writer wasn’t sure which vampire rules they should stick by. Vampires with powers or vampires who heal and are scared of sun?

There’s a poor effort to integrate the vampire war with the Civil War (I may me be mistaken about the Civil War). I understand the attractiveness of it. To have a non related vampire story integrated into real history would be fun but this was poorly achieved. This is due to the weak background of the story and the awful editing. One day Abraham is young, the next he has a massive beard, a cane and his famous top hat. The texture of the movie design was probably the only thing that was consistent throughout the film.

Before I forget, Abraham’s wife is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead... not much else to tell since this movie does not play on romance either.

The only thing I was impressed by was how much they made Benjamin Walker look like Abraham Lincoln near the end of the film.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has nothing to offer. Maybe if it wasn’t for the bad editing and unfilled gaps, the movie might have had some potential. Overall, it is not worth anyones time unless of course you want to waste time.

If your looking for a vampire movie, please seek else where as these vampires are busy trying to set their own fictional rules. 

Terri's Rating: 1/5

Book Review: Florence & Giles

Title: Florence & Giles

Author: John Harding

Published date: 2010

Genre: Historic, Gothic, Horror

The cover of Florence & Giles resembles the raven in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. Just like the poem, it successfully delivers the same eerie gothic vibe to the reader.

1891. In a remote New England mansion lives 12 year old Florence and her younger brother Giles. Florence spends her time reading in secret, against her uncles’ will. At night she sleep walks the dark old corridors and has a recurring dream where a mysterious woman threatens her younger brother.

What thought to be dream becomes a reality to Florence who begins to witness strange phenomena when the children’s second governess, replacing the first who died a terrible death, arrives. She becomes certain the mysterious woman in her dream is the new governess and must find a way to protect her brother from harm.

The best word to describe Florence & Giles is eerie. It flows throughout and makes friends with horror. This book is narrated by Florence. The author did well in translating a protective 12 year old thoughts and actions into words. Simple language is used with made up words only a 12 year old would create.

The first couple of chapters explain the closeness of the siblings and Florence's talent for hiding when reading. The eeriness does not start till Florence’s dream is explain by the appearance of the new governess. Florence starts to see things she can’t explain and no one will believe her.

This novel is a good read. It has the perfect mixture of horror without gruesomeness. It is much more than a straight forward child verse evil governess.

From the beginning, there is no doubt the governess is hiding something but nothing out of the supernatural. Nothing to fear. But the further I read, the more the governess scares me.

There is a battle between Florence and the Governess, good versus evil until the end. The end is when everything makes sense. It explains why the governess is there, why she wants to harm Giles and why Florence is the only one who sees the truth.

The end is when the horror is realized and is, I think the scariest part of the novel. Then again I don’t read horror or gothic books. I get scared easily when it comes to the supernatural. There is nothing bad I can say about this novel. The pace was perfect, the characters written well and the depth of Florence belief is solid.

Florence & Giles is worth a read. It is a horror, gothic novel and will scare you and maybe even make you see things in the mirror that are not really there (or are they?). The twist in this novel might be typical, but it is still captivating enough to hold attention and provide indication that horror comes in different forms. 

A must read.

Terri's Rating: 3/5

Book Review: Perdido Street Station

Title: Perdido Street Station
Author: China Miéville
Year Published: 2000
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Horror


This book has been showered with critical acclaim, described as “revolutionary”, “brilliant”, “complex” and “exhilarating”; having now finished it I can see why this is so. Not being an avid sci-fi reader, I can't really say whether the ideas and world that Miéville has imagined are filled with cliches or what have you. What I can say is that they feel original and are complex and rich, having a depth that goes beyond the narrative of the book.

The story takes place in the steampunk-y city-state of New Crobuzon, a deeply realised and terrifying police state, oozing with its own life, an organism in and of itself. The apparent plot involves scientist Isaac, who is commissioned by a fallen bird-man to restore his flight. Beyond that, I won't reveal more; this is one of those books where there are a few different plot threads going on which (you realise at about a sixth of the way in) end up coming together in some kind of explosion of awesomeness. At first, the going is a bit slow, but after a certain point, everything just kind of snowballs and it becomes quite the page-turner.

As mentioned, I'm not usually a sci-fi reader; my tastes in fantasy usually run towards floaty mythical beings, pretty magicks and boy wizards. It thus came as an off-putting shock when I read that Isaac's lover was a woman with an insect for a head (causing me to have the very reasonable objection of “ewwww” and so on). But once I got past that, it was relatively easy to accept the other terrors in Miéville's world, the worst for me being the process of Remaking, whereby criminals are surgically mutilated in various creative ways as punishment. In short, this book will not be everyone's cup of tea – there is nightmare fuel everywhere.

Other concepts and entities though are simply fantastical. I really enjoyed, for example, reading about the cultural aspects of the non-human races in New Crobuzon, as well as the way magic and science are integrated (though not being nearly as clever as the author, I am out of my dept critiquing the logic of it all). My favourite parts though must be the descriptions of the entities to which the mayor appeals. Yup, I know I'm being vague here, but a large part of the joy in reading this book was in concepts like those – things that aren't explained fully, but rather just glimpsed, so you get the sense of something much greater than that which appears on paper.

The writing was another thing I had to adapt to, being dense with description, particularly with regard to the city. You feel sick reading about the churning sludge of polluted rivers, about the layers of grime upon sorry buildings. The language itself is beautiful but thick. It's great, but again, not everyone's cup of tea. If it helps, you get used to it and the writing does (objectively) get less description-heavy as the story progresses.

This isn't the kind of book I'd normally pick up, but I still enjoyed it and found it technically brilliant; it appeals to the intellect more than anything. I am wont to fall in love with much fluffier creatures and did not fall in love with Perdido Street Station. But that is a purely subjective matter and no indication of the quality of this book; I am, after all, someone who happily read through Twilight.


Alex's Rating: 4/5