I remember this being quite a big deal - Daniel Radcliffe playing the lead in a major movie (Major Movie) that wasn't Harry Potter. He did pretty well, I'd say, and from what I've seen of him in real life (a 'Qi' episode) he seems alright, so good luck to him.
In this he's a legal type who is struggling to keep his job and pay for his kid (wife died). It looks like it's set around the turn of the century (uh, that other century, not the one where I was five and I got a little coin thing from the school (ostensibly from the queen) and then lost it a week later and was sad) going by the style of the car, and I think it's set in Scotland...? looks kind of west coast anyway, but it could easily be Wales or England even, back then. Good ol' Harry P-543 takes a job in some remote village to sort through an old ladies' stuff now that she's died and doesn't have a next of kin. The house is awesome looking and big and creepy, and is on a tidal island with a little muddy road that heads out to it. Kind of like that holy isle or that place in Cornwall. So Danny R-57... uh, there's no number that rhymes with "r"... investigates for a while, and gradually turns up lots of creepy ghost stuff. This ends in a slightly disturbing scene with him and his rich friend pulling a carriage partially out of the bog so that he can dive in and pull out a boys body.
The film goes in for more tension and a general aura of danger rather than actual violence and gore, but this doesn't take away from the fear element. It follows a fairly standard haunted house story line, and so would be ranked alongside stuff like 'Insidious' were it not for the superior sets, cinematography, lighting (seriously, the lighting was a work of art at times), and the far superior acting of Daniel Radcliffe and Ciarán Hinds. It's the kind of talent that usually isn't involved with horrors, and the genre tends to still carry the stigma of being easily made and churned out every month for people to go see on dates. That's what crap like 'Insidious' and 'Mama' are, but 'The Woman in Black' is trying to be something more, and succeeding for the most part.
More of a chills rather than a thrills movie, it is none the less very well made piece. Great acting, a fair script (which, to its credit, isn't afraid to let Daniel stay silent for extended periods as he explores the house, rarely making him talk out loud like a moron), and great sets that are very of-the-time.
A friend said that when he was in the cinema watching this, towards the end as Daniel was running away from something someone at the back shouted "use your wand, Harry!" to an uproar of laughter. Ah, Aberdeen.
The Woman in Black: 43.7