The Woman in Black (2012 film)

The Woman in Black is a 2012 gothic supernatural horror film directed by James Watkins from a screenplay by Jane Goldman. It is the second adaptation of Susan Hill's 1983 novel of the same name, which was previously filmed in 1989. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Sophie Stuckey, and Liz White. The plot, set in early 20th-century England, follows a young recently widowed lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorising the locals.

The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions, Alliance Films, Cross Creek Pictures and the UK Film Council. A film adaptation of Hill's novel was announced in 2009, with Goldman and Watkins attached to the project. During July 2010, Radcliffe was cast in the lead role of Arthur Kipps. The film was meant to be shot in 3D before those plans were scrapped. Principal photography took place from September to December 2010 across England. Post-production lasted until June 2011. It attracted controversy after receiving a 12A certificate from the British Board of Film Classification, despite several cuts being made.

The Woman in Black premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London before being theatrically released in North America on 3 February 2012 by CBS Films and Alliance Films and in the United Kingdom on 10 February 2012 by Momentum Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews with critics praising Radcliffe's performance, cinematography, direction, atmosphere and homages to Hammer's gothic horror films, calling it a "solid ghost story". It was also commercially successful, grossing $130 million worldwide.

A sequel, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, was released on 2 January 2015, without the involvement of Radcliffe, Watkins or Goldman.

Plot
In the village of Crythin Gifford in 1889, three young girls playing in their nursery notice a presence in the room; hypnotised and entranced, they jump to their deaths from the window.

In 1906, in Edwardian London, lawyer Arthur Kipps's son Joseph is born, but his wife, Stella, dies after childbirth. Four years later, Arthur is instructed to visit Crythin Gifford to retrieve any documents left by Alice Drablow, the deceased owner of Eel Marsh House, an isolated and desolate marshland estate, before the sale of the house. Upon arrival, Arthur finds the villagers cold and local solicitor Jerome unwelcoming but he finds sympathy in wealthy landowner Samuel Daily.

At Eel Marsh House Arthur is distracted by odd noises, a bolted nursery, and a spectral entity in black funerary garb. He hears sounds on the marshes of a carriage and a screaming child but sees no one on the causeway. The village constable dismisses his concerns. Two children enter the station with their sister Victoria, who has ingested lye, but she dies in Arthur's arms. The townspeople blame Arthur.

That night Sam reveals that he and his wife, Elisabeth, lost their young son and his friends to drowning. Arthur later discovers Jerome’s young daughter barricaded in the basement for her safety. She too believes him to be responsible for Victoria’s death. Victoria's father later tearfully accuses him of seeing "that woman" at Eel Marsh.

Back at the house, Arthur uncovers correspondence between Alice and her sister Jennet Humfrye. In this, Jennet demands to see her son Nathaniel, whom the Drablows had formally adopted after having Jennet declared mentally unfit, to avoid the shame of Jennet being an unmarried mother. Nathaniel later drowned in a carriage accident on the marsh and Jennet blamed Alice for saving only herself and leaving the boy. Jennet hanged herself in the nursery, vowing never to forgive Alice. Arthur finds the nursery now unlocked. From the window, he watches in horror as a boy crawls out of the mud in the rain. Outside, he sees numerous dead children in the marshes, Victoria among them. Inside, he sees an apparition of a woman hanging herself.

In town the next day, Jerome's house catches fire. When Arthur attempts to save Jerome's daughter, he sees the Woman in Black goading the girl into burning herself. Elisabeth explains that the Woman in Black is Jennet, who claims the village children by having them take their own lives in penance for her own son being taken from her. Arthur realises that his son, who is coming to Crythin Gifford that night, is next.

In an attempt to lift the curse, Arthur and Sam find Nathaniel's body in the marsh and place it in his nursery, into which Arthur lures Jennet. They bury Nathaniel with Jennet, though her voice echoes that she will never forgive the wrongs she suffered. Assuming that she has been pacified, Arthur meets Joseph and his nanny at the station. He sees the Woman in Black lure Joseph onto the tracks. In the attempt to save him, both he and Joseph are killed by an oncoming train. A horrified Sam sees the ghosts of all the village children who were killed standing with the Woman in Black.

Arthur and Joseph, now in the afterlife, see Stella in a peaceful and bright railway station. The family is happily reunited.

Cast
Liz White's character is never referred to as "The Woman in Black" inside the film or during the credits, where she is listed as "Jennet".

Development
The film was announced in 2009, with Jane Goldman as screenwriter and later James Watkins as director. Daniel Radcliffe was announced as the actor playing the part of Arthur Kipps on 19 July 2010. Two months later, it was announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 co-star Ciarán Hinds would join Radcliffe along with Janet McTeer as Mr and Mrs Daily respectively. Before filming, Radcliffe saw a psychologist so he could better understand his character. The part of Joseph Kipps was played by Misha Handley, who is Radcliffe's real life godson.

Filming
The film was planned to be shot in 3D, but the idea was later scrapped. Principal photography officially started on 26 September 2010. The next day, Radcliffe was pictured in costume just outside Peterborough, England. In early October the crew was filming in Layer Marney Tower. Filming officially ended on 4 December 2010.

The exterior shots of Eel Marsh House were filmed at Cotterstock Hall near Oundle in central England. The fictional Nine Lives Causeway leading to it was filmed at Osea Island in Essex. The village of Crythin Gifford was filmed at Halton Gill, north of Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.

Post-production
At the Kapow! Comic Con in London during April 2011, director James Watkins confirmed filming had been completed in December 2010 and post-production would go on until June 2011. For its British release, several changes were made in order to qualify for a 12A certificate: Momentum Pictures, the distributor, arranged to have six seconds cut and for changes to other shots, with some scenes darkened and the sound level reduced on some others.

Despite the cuts, the 12A certificate was seen as highly controversial in the United Kingdom, and the British Board of Film Classification received 134 complaints from individuals that the rating was too low, the most complained-about film of 2012 according to BBFC figures. A cinematic re-release in October 2014, including a short clip from the forthcoming sequel The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, was given a higher rating of 15.

Music
The soundtrack for the film was composed by American film composer Marco Beltrami. It received positive reviews and was released as a soundtrack album on 12 March 2012 by Silva Screen Records.

Critical reception
The Woman in Black was met with generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 66%, based on 195 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Traditional to a fault, The Woman in Black forwent gore for chills—although it may not provide enough of them for viewers attuned to modern, high-stakes horror." On Metacritic the film has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office
During opening weekend, The Woman in Black earned $20 million, the biggest US opening for a Hammer film in all of Hammer history, putting it at second place in the box office, behind Chronicle, which earned about $1 million more. This is significantly more than the $11–$16.5 million industry analysts predicted it would bring in. By June 2012, The Woman in Black had made $127.7 million worldwide. The film also became the highest-grossing British horror film in 20 years.

Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 18 June 2012 in the United Kingdom, and was released in the United States on 22 May 2012.

Sequel
In April 2012, Hammer Films announced that there would be a sequel to The Woman in Black, which is titled The Woman in Black: Angel of Death. The official plot synopsis is: "During World War II, the London bombings force schoolteachers Eve Parkins (Phoebe Fox) and Jean Hogg (Helen McCrory) to evacuate a group of children to Crythin Gifford. When the refugees take shelter at Eel Marsh House, Eve soon comes to realise that they are not alone. The longer they remain there, the more the house's evil spirit threatens the children. With the help of a pilot (Jeremy Irvine), Eve tries to protect the children and uncover the truth of the Woman in Black."

The original novel's author Susan Hill helped with the story, with the screenplay written by Jon Croker. In October 2012, Tom Harper was announced as the film's director. In April 2013, it was announced that Jeremy Irvine would play the lead role, with rumours that Daniel Radcliffe would briefly reprise his role from the first film, however Radcliffe ultimately did not appear in the sequel. It later was announced that Phoebe Fox and Helen McCrory had been cast in the film as well. The film began the shooting process in early 2014.

The film was released on 2 January 2015 to moderate box office returns but a generally negative critical response.