The Woman in Black (2012)

Cafe Society
1

I thought I’d mention this since the source book and subsequent adaptations have received high praise on The Dope: Susan Hill’s 1983 ghost story The Woman in Black, which was adapted into a 1989 television production as well as a still-running stage production in 1987, has been further adapted into a February 2012 motion picture release. It stars one Daniel Radcliffe, who has apparently been in some obscure other movies.

Here’s the trailer (link goes to a Yahoo trailer site).

Interestingly, Adrian Rawlins, the actor who played the main character in the 1989 TV version (which is available for viewing on YouTube), also played James Potter in those obscure Radcliffe movies.

If any Dopers have seen the UK stage production, I’d like to hear their thoughts on it. I love the book (and seeing the trailer has caused me to pull my copy from the shelf to read it again) and the 1989 television version.

2

I love the book too. I’m trying to figure out what part Radcliffe is playing. Isn’t the main character a lot older? Or was the story told in flashback? It’s been awhile and I don’t remember.

3

Radcliffe is playing the main character, who is a young (I’m guessing mid-20s) solicitor. Hill’s book is told as a first-person recollection, but it’s not clear how many years have passed since the events in the story.

4

I saw the stage production at the Lowry in Manchester last year and it was fantastic.

Lots of ‘jump out of your seat’ moments, as well as some real build up of tension and dread. The session I went to had quite a lot of teenage girls in attendance, so the scream factor was quite high!

5

Thanks for posting this - after watching the trailer last night, I was wondering if this movie was based on a book. I’ll have to put that on my to-read list. I can’t wait to see this movie - creeeeeeeepy.

6

This book is coming out on the Kindle this fall, too. Now I’m double excited!

7

I saw it on stage in… I want to say Philly when I was much younger. Scared the heck out of me, I’ll admit, especially when I turned around at a particularly tense part and the WIB was sitting behind me. Don’t know if that happens in all the shows, but it did freak me out.

8

The movie looks nicely creepy, and I’m interested in getting the Kindle version of the book. I sort of wondered if it was an adaptation of a book…I dunno how I figured that, it just had that feel to it.

Even better knowing that folks have rated it highly on here. The movie ads made it look nice and subtle, which is exactly the kind of thing I like in a horror.