The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black, which is about a solicitor who was sent to a supposedly haunted house to settle a woman's estate after she died, is a good example of a classic bone-chilling ghost story. Although it is evident the movie was shot on a limited budget, the minimal special effects actually add to its merit. The Woman in Black centres its atmospheric horror factor on subtlety and feelings of suspense and dread, rather than CGI or gore.

Shot in England, the setting couldn't have been more perfect. The house that is the core of the movie is fittingly eerie and inspires feelings of fear and anxiety, as a good haunted house should. The music creates a heart-pounding mood that magnetically draws you to the edge of your seat and causes you to watch the rest of the film through the cracks between your fingers. It is the perfect accompaniment to the terrifying events both on screen and in your imagination. The acting is as understated as the rest of the movie, yet the talented actors make it very easy for viewers to be transported into the world of the supernatural and never doubt it once.

This movie definitely deserves the cult following it has acquired, which is made complicated due to the fact that there are no new legitimate copies being sold. Although this could have been just another low budget made-for-TV movie, The Woman in Black is a new, refreshing take on the old "things going bump in the night" idea.