The Woman in Black
CBS Films | Release Date: February 3, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
17
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanFeb 2, 2012
In rare cases – and The Woman in Black is one of them – a story may be more atmospheric when less is left to the imagination. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyJan 9, 2015
Even now we know he’ll thrive post-Hogwarts, Radcliffe impresses as Arthur Kipps, the solicitor, widower and father with an invested interest in the afterlife. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsFeb 6, 2012
Check behind the doors. Switch on all the lights. You won't be sleeping soundly for a while. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyFeb 3, 2012
"No Country for Young Kids" would be just as suitable a title for The Woman in Black, a hoot of an old-fashioned British horror film. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichFeb 2, 2012
The mostly dialogue-free middle section is a scare-film master class - and when a becalmed smile does finally cross his lips, it's in the most giddily mordant of circumstances. As Arthur embraces the darkness, so does the darkness embrace us. Read full review
80
TimeRichard CorlissFeb 2, 2012
The Woman in Black is a welcome addition to the old canon; renouncing innovation, embracing anachronism, it's almost "The Artist" of ghost movies. To anyone who fancies throwback stories of the supernatural, there's nothing so appealing as a well-preserved corpse. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenFeb 2, 2012
If the story is laid out none too subtly, its straightforward purity is, finally, its greatest strength. Screenwriter Jane Goldman has adapted Susan Hill's 1983 novel (which spawned a radio series, TV movie and long-running West End stage play) with economy, placing a premium on eeriness, not gore. Read full review
80
MovielineStephanie ZacharekFeb 2, 2012
The pleasures of the period ghost story The Woman in Black are something like the creepy shiver of delight you get from Edward Gorey's illustrated poem "The Gashlycrumb Tinies." Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 6, 2012
The production company is Hammer Films, a venerable name in British horror. Responsible for some of the best monster movies of the '50s and '60s, when Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were a favorite team, Hammer has endured over the years. Now, as then, the Hammer name is an assurance that terror, not soulless special effects, lies at the heart of the production. The Woman in Black bears this out. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 2, 2012
As opposed to modern horror flicks like the "Saw" movies, where gruesome violence can almost blunt fears, The Woman in Black is a tasteful, old-school frightener, emphasizing suspense and foreboding over blood and guts. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 2, 2012
The film, a handsome nerve-jangler co-produced under the storied Hammer horror banner, amps up the scares without turning them into something completely stupid. Success! Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertFeb 1, 2012
Not since young Hutter arrived at Orlok's castle in "Nosferatu" has a journey to a dreaded house been more fearsome than the one in The Woman in Black. Read full review
70
NPRBob MondelloFeb 6, 2012
There's not a lot that's new about the terrors he faces - the director uses time-honored techniques to keep you on edge, every one of which graced Hammer films of yore. But happily for the picture, there's a reason they're time-honored. And keep you on edge, they definitely do. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonFeb 2, 2012
If director James Watkins's second film is about as scary as the haunted house your big cousins made in the basement, Radcliffe, as widowed lawyer Arthur Kipps, at least gives a moving portrayal of grief. Read full review
70
SlateDana StevensFeb 2, 2012
If, on the other hand, you're not above acknowledging the trans-historical creepiness of a good dusty windup-doll shelf (Come on! It includes one of those hyper-realistic monkeys playing the cymbals!), this pokey, modestly budgeted thriller isn't without its shivery delights. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderBen SachsFeb 2, 2012
Director James Watkins (Eden Lake) treats the material with surprising reverence, generating good clean scares from atmosphere and character revelations rather than shock editing or gore. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisFeb 2, 2012
Less gore is more here, and what a relief. The Woman in Black isn't especially scary, but it keeps you on edge, and without the usual vivisectionist imagery. Read full review
70
VarietyLeslie FelperinJan 29, 2012
Helmer James Watkins ("Eden Lake") and scripter Jane Goldman judiciously combine moves from the classic scare-'em-ups with new tricks from recent J-horror pictures to retell Susan Hill's oft-adapted Victorian gothic pastiche. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorAndy KleinFeb 3, 2012
Radcliffe's fidgety performance is convincing, and he does come across as an adult, though a very young one. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumFeb 2, 2012
An old-fashioned, tastefully constrained supernatural thriller, The Woman In Black embraces the elements of gothic horror movies with pleasing seriousness. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsFeb 3, 2012
There's little that's new, revealing or stylish about this basic-black horror story, but if you've got a Goth sensibility, it might suit you. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyFeb 2, 2012
Though Radcliffe occasionally seems too stiffly callow to be completely convincing in this grown-up role, the movie is a proficient thriller with a potential appeal beyond the star's fan-girl audience. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 2, 2012
The Woman in Black doesn't break new ground, but in its suggestions of fine film ghost stories, from "The Innocents" to "The Others" and "The Orphanage," it works you over with riveting restraint. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonFeb 2, 2012
The landscape is dire, the architecture is haunted, children disappear by the dozens and antique toys inexplicably spark to life. That Mr. Radcliffe doesn't is part of the problem. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanFeb 2, 2012
Though "Woman" never rises above its status as a traditional genre thriller, that's perfectly fine. It was made with intelligence and commitment, and it achieves its goal: to keep us looking over our shoulders long after we've left. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 2, 2012
Subtlety may not be Watkins' strong suit, but he knows how to frame a scene for maximum tension and dread. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedFeb 8, 2012
Boring and sedentary, not to mention only occasionally coherent, this creaking-door mystery is not much of a vehicle to display young Mr. Radcliffe's range and charm. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinFeb 6, 2012
There is one nice pop-up scare against a dozen or so false, ineffectual ones - a poor percentage. As the title states, she is a woman and wears black, but she might as well be a hastily decked-out script girl for all her impact. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickFeb 3, 2012
Erstwhile boy wizard Daniel Radcliffe works no magic as a grieving lawyer in The Woman in Black, a creaky haunted-house story that's strong on creepy atmosphere but woefully deficient in the scare department. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliFeb 2, 2012
If, in the end, the movie fails to generate much beyond several crackling jump scares and a nicely gothic mise-en-scene, it has enough mood, and enough Radcliffe, to carry us through the mist. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 2, 2012
Director James Watkins knows how to make a body jump out of its skin, even if he does use the face-reflected-in-the-mirror/window trick once too often. At the same time, the film is kind of, well, silly. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellFeb 2, 2012
To my thinking, this splendid low-key bummer of a ghost story was eventually undermined by the film's increasing reliance on shock-scares, in which something suddenly and noisily jumps into the frame, over and over and over. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisFeb 2, 2012
Janet McTeer provides a little ham to the role of a woman who dresses up her dogs because she misses her dead twin sons. But there's not nearly enough of her. Nor is there enough legitimate suspense. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandFeb 2, 2012
The Woman in Black has lovely period atmosphere. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much else besides atmosphere. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 2, 2012
The film is wonderfully atmospheric and full of little frights, but its overall impact is only glancing. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezFeb 2, 2012
In his first starring role post-Harry Potter, Radcliffe must carry the movie with little dialogue and practically nothing to play other than fear, constantly reacting to creepy toys that suddenly spring to life and reflections in windows that shriek unexpectedly at him. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsFeb 1, 2012
Without Radcliffe at the center looking scared out of his wits, The Woman In Black would seem even slighter than it already does. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineFeb 1, 2012
In the end, The Woman in Black displays a higher regard for the material makeup of gruesome-looking Victorian dolls than it does for the psychological turmoil of its characters, making one wish that some of the money it budgeted for cranes and fog machines had been offered to a script doctor. Read full review
42
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallFeb 2, 2012
Despite its haunted house setting, the movie's most visible cobwebs are found in Jane Goldman's screenplay, adapted from Susan Hill's novel. Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineMark OlsenFeb 2, 2012
A credible suspense story with a surprisingly bold ending, The Woman In Black is a solid step away from Harry Potter for star Daniel Radcliffe - while it, too, is British and fantastical, the tone is sinister, adult and bleak. Read full review
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