A problem I am increasingly encountering when watching horror movies is that I am often completely unafraid of the images passing by onscreen. In some respects that is understandable considering most of the films I watch really are not attempting to scare the viewer. Gallons of blood and yet another knife wielding psycho has been done so many times that a body popping out of a closet or the old "stalk and slash" routine rarely raise a hair on my neck. Fortunately, I occasionally run across something that does rise above the mass to deliver profoundly scary thrills. Moreover, these movies, and there are not many of them, usually accomplish this feat without significant bloodshed. "The Woman in Black" is one of these rarities, an obscure, made for television British picture that plays like an old time ghost story replete with scary sound effects, malevolent apparitions, and a chilling back story. This is grim stuff, and you are a lost cause if the ending doesn't make you sit up and take note. Some American cable channel really ought to start showing this one every Halloween.
Young attorney Arthur Kidd is a quite likeable fellow; he is a bright young man dedicated to his job, has an attractive young wife, two lovely children, and enjoys the company of his fellow man. Unlike most of the stodgy fogies at his law firm, he will take a few minutes out of his day to talk to lowly law clerks even though his boss constantly upbraids him for such unprofessional behavior. In what feels like a punishment for Kidd's continued insubordination in this regard, the senior partner in the firm orders Arthur to go to the village of Crythin Gifford where an important client recently died. It is the young lawyer's job to secure the recently deceased's papers at a place called Eel-Marsh House, however long that takes, and report back to the home office. The entire job shouldn't take more than a week, but the assignment bothers Arthur nonetheless because it means a lengthy separation from his family. He goes, though, because he hopes to secure a rapid advance within the firm. Initially, few indications exist that this mission to a misty little village in the middle of nowhere contains a horror beyond time and space.
The first indication something is very wrong with this new situation occurs when Arthur sees an ominous figure, a woman clad entirely in black, during a visit to a cemetery in the village. Seeing a person standing around in mourning attire in a burial ground certainly shouldn't raise too many red flags, but there is something about this woman that gives Kidd a bad feeling. Further signs of trouble arise when the attorney encounters several locals, including one of the village elders, who express reservations about Arthur's mission in town. It seems that nearly everyone avoids the Eel-Marsh house on the outskirts of the town, but good old Kidd knows that is exactly where he must go to do his job. He secures transportation to the house, learns the floor plan and how to turn on the lights, and sets about his work. Eerie events happen almost immediately upon his arrival. Kidd hears the most horrible screams and sounds of a buggy splashing into the water out on the road heading to the house, and he even sees that enigmatic woman in black again on the grounds. A room within the house, unreachable because of a door impervious to all attempts to gain entry, provides further creepy situations. As Arthur slowly unearths the terrors of the abandoned estate, he learns more than any human should about the paranormal and its potentialities in the world of the living. The last twenty minutes or so of "The Woman in Black" slap you in the face with shock after shock, and just when you think it is finally over the last nightmare unfolds with devastating effectiveness.
There really isn't any way to prepare yourself for this film. My girlfriend, who walked in about twenty minutes into the film and watched it to the end, claimed that it wasn't all that scary. But I hold a different view, especially concerning a scene where Arthur lies in bed recovering from his stay at the house and finally sees the woman in black up close and personal followed by the last minute of the movie. I can still see that quiet little lake and what Arthur sees standing some distance from the boat containing himself and his wife. If the woman in black and all of her attendant menace do little for you, there is still the oppressive atmosphere that hangs heavy over nearly every scene in the film. The Eel-House is your typical mist shrouded house on the coast: dank, dark, and burdened with horrible secrets. I consider myself a brave, do anything type of person, but there is no way I would spend any time in that house alone. It is simply too creepy for words.
The only significant failing of this film is its noticeable television feel. Some of the production values don't come off as well as they could and the editing founders in a few places, but these are minor problems considering the picture as a whole. It is light years better than most of the pap passed off as entertainment these days. Regrettably, the transfer quality on the DVD is mediocre, with its often jiggling and color soft picture. Despite these small difficulties, "The Woman in Black" succeeds in presenting the viewer with a classic ghost story that is frequently the equivalent of pouring a bucket of icy water on your head.
