THE WOMAN IN BLACK

The Woman in Black is a 2012 supernatural horror-thriller film directed by James Watkins and written by Jane Goldman, and is based on Susan Hill'snovel of the same name. It is produced by Hammer Film Productions. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Sophie Stuckey, and Liz White. It was released in the United States and Canada on 3 February 2012 to generally positive reviews, and was released in the United Kingdom on 10 February 2012.

Plot

The film opens with a shot of three girls having a tea party who then simultaneously look at a corner of the room, and then immediately get up and commit suicide while their mother screams outside. In the Edwardian era, young solicitor Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) lives with his four-year-old son, Joseph (Misha Handley) and his son's nanny (Jessica Raine). Kipps's wife Stella (Sophie Stuckey) has died after childbirth. Kipps has been having visions of her and is facing financial problems along with stress from the firm he works for. He is assigned to handle the estate of Alice Drablow, who owned an English manor known as the Eel Marsh House, where she had lived with her husband, son Nathaniel, and sister Jennet Humfrye (Liz White). Although the locals are unwelcoming, Kipps befriends Sam Daily (Ciarán Hinds), a wealthy landowner, and his wife Elizabeth (Janet McTeer).

At Eel Marsh House, located on an island in the marshes, Kipps repeatedly hears footsteps and sees a woman dressed in black. He reports the sighting at the local police station, but while there two boys bring their sister Victoria (Alexia Osborne), who has drunk lye; she dies in Kipps's arms. She is not the first child in town to commit suicide and the townspeople believe the "Woman in Black" comes for their children as revenge for her own child being taken from her, and believe that when ever someone sees her a child nearby is killed, which could be why children have been dying since Kipps' arrival at Eel Marsh House.

Kipps and Sam arrive at the house of Jerome, the local solicitor. The house is empty and they hear a noise from the cellar. Kipps peers through a hole in the cellar door and is startled when the face of a young girl, Lucy Jerome (Aoife Doherty) suddenly appears and screams at him to go away, believing he was responsible for Victoria's death. After returning to Sam's house for dinner, Kipps discovers that Sam and Elizabeth's son, Nicholas, drowned while playing at the beach and Nicholas communicates through possession; Elizabeth then draws a hanging woman who Kipps realizes is Jennet. Later at the Marsh, Kipps discovers notes claiming that Jennet was mentally unstable and was not allowed to care for Nathaniel, who was actually Jennet's son, although this fact was hidden by Alice, who raised Nathaniel as her own son. He also finds out that Jennet hung herself due to his death long ago.

The villagers desperately want Kipps to leave but he refuses, wanting to protect his job. Throughout the night at the Marsh, Kipps has many paranormalexperiences with the Woman in Black and all the children that committed suicide as they all apear outside the house as they were when they died. The next morning, Sam and Kipps return to town to see the local solicitor, Jerome's house on fire. Kipps rushes inside to rescue Lucy, Jerome's daughter, who has been locked in the cellar. There, he sees the Woman in Black manipulate the girl into setting herself on fire The girl smashes a lantern at her feet setting her on fire. Kipps visits Mrs. Daily, who reveals in a trance that Joseph is the next victim. Kipps realizes he must put Nathaniel to rest by giving him a proper burial. Kipps and Sam go to the Marsh, locate Nathaniel's body by Arther going into the marsh and diving to his body . They then take his body and lay him out in the nursery in the house. The Woman in Black appears and knocks Kipps to the floor, but they finally lay Nathaniel to rest by burying him with his real mother, Jennet. After Kipps and Sam leave, the camera moves quickly through the hallway of the Marsh House and the voice of the Woman in Black can be heard saying "I'll never forgive!" "I'll never forgive!"

Kipps is reunited with his son, Joseph, at the railway station and plans to leave immediately. While bidding Sam goodbye, Kipps turns to Joseph, walking along the tracks towards a fast approaching train. Sam notices the Woman in Black along the platform as Kipps jumps onto the tracks to save Joseph. As the train passes, Sam looks through the windows to see the unrested souls of all the children the Woman in Black has claimed. Still standing on the tracks with Joseph, Kipps looks up to see the now deserted platform. Joseph asks, "Daddy, who is that lady?" to which Kipps replies with a smile, "That's your Mummy." Realizing he and his son have died, he kisses his son and takes his wife's hand, the three of them are then reunited in death. They 'go on' together, leaving the Woman in Black watching their reunion.

Cast

• Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps, a young solicitor
• Ciarán Hinds as Sam Daily, a local landowner
• Janet McTeer as Elizabeth Daily, Daily's wife
• Sophie Stuckey as Stella Kipps, Arthur's wife
• Misha Handley as Joseph Kipps, Arthur's son
• Liz White as Jennet Humfrye, The Woman in Black
• Daniel Cerqueira as Keckwick, the carriage driver
• Tim McMullan as Jerome, the local solicitor
• Aoife Doherty as Lucy Jerome, Jerome's daughter
• Roger Allam as Mr Bentley, senior partner of Kipps' firm
• Victor McGuire as Gerald Hardy, a villager
• Alexia Osborne as Victoria Hardy, Hardy's daughter
• David Burke as PC Collins, village constable
• Ashley Foster as Nathaniel Drablow, The Woman in Black's son
• Jessica Raine as Joseph's Nanny
• Shaun Dooley as Fisher, village innkeeper
• Mary Stockley as Mrs Fisher
• Sidney Johnston as Nicholas Daily, Daily's son

Source: