TheDailySnitcher

Hammer Film Production and CBS Films’s 2012 adaptation of The Woman in Black, straying somewhat from Susan Hill’s original, which includes an epilogue, sees brooding widower Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) sceptically becoming caught up in the occult tragedies of the small coastal village of Crythin Gifford, having being dispatched to settle the affairs of Mrs. Alice Drablow. Unlike the original, Kipps leaves behind a young son in London; an effective twist which makes him more believable as the paternal figure he becomes during the course of the film.

Having absolutely no expectations of the film whatsoever, and not generally being effected by ‘ghosts and ghouls’, I settled into my seat with a smug sense of security which I fear I will never recover. Cruelly, the first 20 minutes or so of action, whilst still watchable, were fairly unassuming, continuing to feed my naïve sense that all was right with the world and that I was going to reach 30 without suffering a major fear-induced heart-attack. About 30 minutes in, however, I began to be increasingly aware of my own mortality.

‘The Woman in Black’ includes both aspects of typical eerie period dramas set in small, remote English hamlets- imagine plenty of little pale-faced children staring out of windows and stubborn-to-the-point of murderous locals (something which, being from Somerset, I can completely relate to)-and more modern horror-movie fair. However, the real art here is that the two styles have been so skilfully combined that neither takes control, neither becomes hackneyed or overdone. Every good old-fashioned guttering candle and slamming door interacts brilliantly with the more modern CGI’d elements of the film to create truly heart-stopping shocks. The real beauty of the film is that is uses the clichés inherent in period drama to its advantage- allowing you to convince yourself again and again that you know what’s about to happen, before blind siding you completely and terrifyingly.

I feel I should mention Dan himself. Although for the first few scenes of The Woman in Black, all I could see was Radcliffe’s face interspersed with images of a fresh-faced, bespectacled young wizard, he soon managed to shake this off. Radcliffe is on screen in every shot that isn’t just of the marshes and silent for the majority of the time – no easy feat. Despite this he manages to lead the audience from frustration to denial to outright horror. The only slight niggle being that he does still really sound like Harry Potter at times, because of the accent.

In summary the Woman in Black is a brilliant modern take on the original book and a satisfyingly terrifying British film. Whilst sometimes predictable it is nonetheless creepy that left me sleepless for days.

From the Screen Actors Guild.

The stunt performers and coordinators from “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” and “Game of Thrones” are recipients of this year’s Screen Actors Guild Honors for Outstanding Action Performances by Film and Television Stunt Ensembles, it was announced today from the “18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®” red carpet by Screen Actors Guild Awards Committee Chair JoBeth Williams and Awards Committee Member Scott Bakula. The announcement was made on the live SAG Awards® Red Carpet Pre-show webcast on tnt.tv, tbs.com and People.com which streams until 8:00 p.m. (ET) / 5:00 p.m. (PT).

Screen Actors Guild’s Stunt Ensemble Honors commend work within the stunt community during 2011 and recognize stunt performers and coordinators.  Nominees that were chosen by their respective SAG Awards® film and television nominating committees -- each consisting of 2,100 SAG members from around the country, randomly selected anew each year -- were announced on Dec. 14, 2011. Balloting procedures to choose the final recipients were sent to the nearly 100,000 eligible voting members of Screen Actors Guild on Dec. 30. Voting closed on Friday, Jan. 27 at noon PT. Results were sealed by the Guild’s official election teller until Williams and Bakula announced them on the SAG Awards red carpet.  The recipients are:

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 (WARNER BROS. PICTURES)
 
Lucy Allen
Mark Archer
Nina Armstrong
Gary Arthurs
Helen Bailey
Nellie Borroughs
Richard Bradshaw
Adam Brashaw
Michael Byrch
Bruce Cain
Annabelle Canavan
Marc Cass
Nick Chopping
Jonathan Cohen
David Connelly
Talila Craig
Graham Crowther
Clive Curtis
Nicholas Daines
Ray De Haan
Sam Dent
Jim Dowdall
Tracey Eddon
Jamie Edgell
Rick English
Bradley Farmer
Dave Fisher
Pete Ford
Elaine Ford
Amanda Foster
Sarah Franzl
Grace Franzl
Danny Freitas
James Grogan
Calvin Heasman
Nick Hobbs
Bobby Holland Hanton
Rob Hunt
Eunice Huthart
Rob Inch
Rowley Irlam
Ian Kay
Tolga Kenan
Mike Lambert
Derek Lea
Maurice Lee
Nicholas Lewis
Paul Lowe
Tony Lucken
Marc Mailley
Kai Martin
Tina Maskell
Jo McClaren
Kim McGarrity
Nick McKinless
Russell McLeod
Peter Miles
Lee Millham
Jamie Millington
Sian Milne
Mark Mottram
Daniel Naprous
David Newton
Brian Nickels
James O'Dee
Justin Pearson
Peter Pedrero
Andy Pilgrim
Chris Pollard
Mike Potter
Greg Powell
Tilly Powell
Dominic Preece
Kierron Quest
Alison Ryan
Marcus Shakesheff
CC Smiff
Marvin Stewart-Campbell
Matt Stirling
Ryan Stuart
Roy Taylor
Rocky Taylor
Tony Van Silva
Andy Wareham
Marlow Warrington-Mattei
Reg Wayment
Bill Weston
Maxine Whitaker
Peter White
Jason White
Jo Whitney
Martin Wilde
Donna Williams
Lewis Young