The Woman in Black

Last night we went to see The Woman in Black, a Hammer Films production starring Mr. Daniel Radcliffe (or, DanRad as I like to call him.) The movie is based on the book, and there is also a stage adaptation of the book in London's West End where it's been playing since 1989. A friend of mine has seen the stage version and she said it was the scariest thing she's ever seen movie/play or otherwise. So naturally she and her boyfriend went to see the movie and they were both very impressed by it.


I've been dealing with a rather severe bout of depression lately and I was getting desperate, so I thought maybe scare therapy would help me, since it worked for Allie Brosh. I loooooove scary movies. Probably because they make me feel something deep and primal and it reminds me I'm alive. Boyfriend does not like scary movies. He gets very stressed out watching them.  When I rented Paranormal Activity, Boyfriend begrudgingly agreed to watch it with me and we had to pause the movie in the middle so that he could chill out for a moment because he was so uncomfortable. *Sigh* I hope I don't give him a heart attack some day.
We are both fans of DanRad-we love us some Harry Potter-and after having seen him on stage last year, we were really excited to see The Woman in Black even though the preview alone made Boyfriend crinkle his face and start sweating a little.


Fear, like comedy and beauty, is subjective.  What scares the daylights out of me makes someone else laugh. Usually at me. So I won't go on and on about how scary I thought The Woman in Black was, 'cause holy swiss cheese it was scary.  Whether or not other people think it was scary, it was beautifully made; the cinematography and costumes blew me away. I don't care who you are there was some damn fine acting in that movies too.  The story itself is not anything new-a fairly typical ghost/haunted house type of plot-but the movie as a whole was very well-made. A lot more goes into making a film scary other than just having a bunch of "boo!" moments that make you jump (but there were several good ones in this one.) I think the whole package needs to be complete: the acting needs to not feel like acting, there needs to be enough build-up to the scary parts, but the pay-off needs to be there, and the film needs to follow the rules it sets to maintain suspention of disbelief.  This movie fulfilled all of those requirements for me. It is definitely on my list of favorite scary movies. 

While the movie didn't scare me completely out of my gloom, it certainly gave me an ass-kick in the right direction. I'm feeling a little more "normal" than I have been, but I know it's not something that will just go away right away.  It's a process.  I do know, however, that between The Woman in Black and Samara from The Ring. I may never sleep again.

Yep.  Never. Sleeping. Again.