The Film Challenge list has been put together for me by friends who just couldn't believe the amount of films I've never seen. For the complete list go to my Film Challenge tab.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't seen this film yet and don't want to ruin the experience then please do not read any further. I will not be offended, I'd much rather you enjoy the film properly.
If you have seen it, then do read on ...
However, the very first
scene of the film was completely absent from the book, a totally new
feature. I was already disappointed then and it had only been on a
few minutes. It was my own fault really, how often is the book true
to the film anyway?
Once I got past the
added story line and the character differences (namely Kipps's son in
this, which he didn't have in the book) I began to enjoy it for what
it was, just another spooky ghost story.
And from this point of
view it certainly delivers. Particularly when Kipps was trapped at
the house by the marsh, I found myself constantly looking behind him,
trying to work out where the woman in black was going to appear.
Sometimes I was right, others not so much, but either way she was
extremely creepy, making my skin crawl a little whenever she
appeared. This is what I like from a spooky film.
They then stepped it up
a notch with the introduction of her son, rising from the marsh where
he drowned years before. He, too, had the desired effect for a ghost
film. You didn't get a very good view of him, at least not to begin
with, he crept around and once all he left were footprints.
The film was doing so
well up until this point, but then Kipps decided he had to reunite
the pair to rid the town of her wrath forever. My disappointment
began to return. Seeing the two ghosts up close now completely
removed (for me anyway) the sense of mystery and fear they originally evoked. I felt a bit cheated at the end if I'm honest. The ending
of the book was far superior to this, I really don't know why things
are changed so much as to be almost unrecognisable.
At least the next time
I see a film version of something I'll be much more prepared.
Rating: 3/5
Hey Heather,
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the book, but I really enjoyed the ending. The ending was quite meaningful, in that she could "never forget" what they did to her and therefore had to still get back at Kipps. But since Kipps had helped her reunite with her child, and she knew she must take Kipp's child, she killed them both (something which is not something she would normally do...and thus doing them a favour).
I meant I really enjoyed the ending to the film.**
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