The Woman In Black Terrified Us All 10 Years Ago Today

It's been 10 years since The Woman In Black had us spilling our popcorn and going home to sleep with the lights on.

Based on Susan Hill's ghost story of the same name, the film was directed by James Watkins and starred Daniel Radcliffe as lawyer Arthur Kipps.

The film follows Kipps – a widower and father – as he's sent to a remote countryside estate to help put a mysterious woman's affairs in order.

Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black (Alamy)

However, Kipps soon learns that the woman may not have fully left the house and that her spirit is actually connected to a series of child murders.

At this point I'd like to note that the film was a 12A. Seriously, a 12A.

Still, the movie marked Radcliffe's first foray into films following Harry Potter and, in our humble opinion, he gives a stellar performance.

While the film only scored 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, we'd still argue it's a jump-scare staple. Plus, it's also one of the only decent horrors you can watch aged 12.

In an interview following the film's release, Radcliffe revealed that he read the film script the night that he finished filming the last Harry Potter film.

Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black (Alamy)

'We finished filming on the 29th of June and I read the script on the plane going to America that night four hours after we did the last shot, and it was amazing. I think one of the reasons I was so excited by the script was because I’d never imagined myself doing horror,' he said.

The film helped Radcliffe somewhat move away from his iconic wizard role. 'I was never under any illusions that this would be the one film that I would do and everyone would say 'Oh, he’s no longer Harry Potter'. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I think it will start that.'

To his credit, we were so stressed out by the film that we forgot he was in Harry Potter altogether.

On first appearance, Kipps seems to be a repressed, grieving man who resents his son for the death of his wife during childbirth. However, he transforms throughout the movie, showing the lengths a father would go to protect his child.

Although it is a horror, the film is better understood as a reflection of grief: it's literally a haunting. It shows how messy, upsetting and scary the process can be, while remaining entertaining.

Also, given that Radcliffe was pretty much the only person on screen apart from the Woman in Black herself, it speaks volumes that we couldn't stop watching.

In fact, we're going to give it a re-watch tonight.

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