Being a bespectacled bookworm, I totally understand when people get upset at Hollywood for taking their literary heart treasures and turning them into cheap, cinematic penny dreadfuls. However, also being a rampant movie nerd, I realize that you simply cant put every single detail that was touched upon in the book into the movie and have it not be a mind-numbing, never ending, self-indulgent snooze-fest (as much as I love Richard Adams Watership Down, Im not sitting through a 12-hour film of bunny relocation and persecution). So with that in mind, lets jump right in to some good ol film and novel reflection, and how the movie holds up to its source. Maybe some of you have seen the 2012 version of The Woman in Black, starring Harry Potter himself (Daniel Radcliffe) and based on Susan Hills 1983 ghost story of the same name. The storys plot, as expressed through both mediums, is about a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who is assigned to settle the affairs of a woman recently deceased with no living relatives. So he heads for her rural estate, Eel Marsh House, a place so effectively brought to creepy life in the film, that it was enough to make me take one look at it and verbally advise the young solicitor to jump on the first Hell No! train to Screwthatville. But of course, we would not have a movie or book if he did not go forward, so he does, and thats where you start to make sure all the lights are turned on and you have your back to the wall. The spirit of the Woman in Black lords over Eel Marsh with a silent malevolence that seems like its simmering toward a raging insanity that can make the living wet themselves and long for a night light. In the book, the narration is coming from an older Kipps, who though happily married with four step-children, has been hiding the horror of what he experienced at Eel Marsh House for all these years, because hey, who wants to relive that heap of horrid goodies? Hes writing it down for catharsis. In the film, the story is happening in the time frame in which we see it, and Kipps is a financially struggling single father who is still mourning the loss of his young wife. While haunted house stories are older than the houses that are purportedly haunted, both the book and the film have exactly the effect that these types of tales should have, which is to turn your spine into a quivering mass (figuratively speaking, of course). The build up to the scares are well staged, and so well executed, that when they come, even though youre expecting it, they still get you. Of course, the movie piles on a lot of extra plot points that arent in the book, but thats okay; its still effective and doesnt feel too forced. Those of you who dig gore and a fast pace might be disappointed, as theres no blood to be seen or read about, and both book and film take their time developing the the story line. What do you think? Did you like The Woman in Black? Have you read the book, and do you think the movie did it justice? Comment below, and let me know.
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 23:19:58 +0000
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