James Watkins
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Connections, in both directions
The story takes place in England at the turn of the 20th century, which is a particularly interesting historical moment to set a classical ghost story because the crumbling of older modes of life in the face of modern technology echoes the familiar tug-of-war between spirituality and rationality; the old ways hold on despite the force of social evolution (it is not surprising, in this regard, that Bram Stoker set Dracula, a story to which The Woman in Black owes no small debt, in the then-present tense of 1897, rather than in the past).
You might say that "The Woman in Black" is in a similar vein to the 2001 smash "The Others," but it isn't a narrative built entirely around a Shyamalanian twist ending.
Stuffed with such familiar period touches as mechanical toys and mysteriously opening doors, it suffers by comparison to such similar films as “The Orphanage” and “The Others.’’
This is what separates “The Woman in Black” from truly great ghost movies such as “The Innocents,” “The Haunting” and “The Others.”
It's lovely to see the Boy Who Lived move on, but don't expect The Woman in Black to be nearly as memorable as Harry Potter or as creepily mind-blowing as The Others .
The best ghost stories are the ones that rely on careful exposition and a pervasive sense of mounting dread to unsettle audiences (The Others and The Orphanage being modern examples), but director James Watkins and scripter Jane Goldman abandon that approach shockingly fast.
Watkins and his team pull out all the classic horror clichés to energize Jane Goldman’s flaccid and confused screenplay (she’s adapting Susan Hill’s 1983 novel), stealing cues from Juan Antonio Bayona’s far superior The Orphanage while desperately trying to emulate Alejandro Amenábar’s overrated The Others.
Classify it as you like, but Toby Watkins’ Eden Lake is a lot more like Deliverance or Straw Dogs than it is about cheap jolts or obvious tricks.
An argument over a slashed tyre degenerates into a grisly, bloody chase that is as unpredictable as a pig hunt in Lord of the Fliesand as viscerally graphic as Straw Dogs.
This precedes the release od DC Studios' Clayface in theaters, which will deliver the first look at the DCU's live-action Gotham behind one of Dark Knight's most iconic villains from the comics.
There's a Janus Cosmetics poster in the background of the abandoned mall, referencing the company at the heart of the upcoming Clayface movie.
Posteriormente, conforme avanza la historia, Peele deja de lado los arquetipos de este formato para llevar su historia al “ survivor horror ”, con claras referencias a obras como Eden Lake de James Watkins, o El descenso , de Neil Marshall.
Fans of The Woman in Black (2012) would easily find this enjoyable.
Luckily, similar to The Woman in Black, most of the jump scares in Hokum are things that should legitimately shock us, rather than boring fakeouts.
…continuing as early as next year with Supergirl and Clayface…
Hell, it worked nicely for Eden Lake .
The film combines the gloomy aesthetics of “Wuthering Heights,” the apparitions, family secrets and betrayals of “The Woman in Black” with the murderous straight razor chills of “Sweeney Todd.”
It is some of the happier and more optimistic design we’ve seen from Kave Quinn, whose impressive filmography includes much darker tableaux like “The Woman in Black,” “Teen Spirit,” and even “Judy.”