News : The Woman in Black draws ever closer...

Now this is VERY exciting. The remake, or more accurately the new adaptation of THE WOMAN IN BLACK is fast approaching, is is produced by none other than the mighty Hammer Horror Studios. Anyone who reads this site regularly will know of my deep love and devotion to Hammer's glorious cinematic lineage, and their recent output has been pretty solid. But this is something altogether different.

For anyone unaware of the source material, THE WOMAN IN BLACK was written in 1983 by Susan Hill, and was heralded as an instant classic in the supernatural genre. Putting atmosphere and an all pervading sense of dread above gore and violence, the book recalled the works of classic authors of ghostly tales, such as MR James, and went on to spawn a brilliantly creepy British TV movie and a stage adaptation which plays worldwide till this day, and is downright terrifying.

The original movie was a horrifying experience, and has lost none of its power to scare over the years, but is a little known classic, and a very hard film to get your hands on. No plot details for you here, as surprise is fundamental to the tale, but I can guarantee it will chill any fan of traditional ghost stories. There are scenes in there that can take your breathe away. Its a fantastic film.


On hearing of the dreaded remake, I'm sure those of you who know the film were somewhat, how shall we say, 'shitting bricks'. It could have went so very wrong. In the hands of the usual remake crowd we'd have witnessed a great and respected ghost story being reducing to THE MESSENGERS, or worse. Dark days.

Now there are no guarantees, but from the looks of the first teaser and this extended one below, (which gives away very little, so rest easy), this is shaping up to be one hell of a movie. I'll meet you after the teaser. Have at it....

Now I dunno about you guys, but that trailer is creepy as all hell from where I'm perched, and looks to be a real, honest to god attempt at taking the source material seriously, and giving it the reworking anyone who's seen the play, read the book, or watched the original film has always known it deserves. What really grabbed me was the atmosphere. This has the Hammer Horror 'look' down perfect, and although that's not where its headed, its very exciting to see those fog shrouded villages, desolate moorlands and dark, foreboding mansions making a return on the big screen. It also doesn't hurt that THE WOMAN IN BLACK is far more terrifying than anything in Hammers output. in fact, there are very few supernatural tales that come even close to its power. So this is looking pretty damn interesting.

And if all that isn't promising enough, have a listen to this nine plus minutes Q & A with the director. He's clearly a smart man who understands the source material. He steadfastly refuses to divulge plot, which is refreshing enough, but hell, I almost cheered at 'If this was in 3D, my name wouldn't be on it'. Respect, my friend, respect.

This film is my number one must see, from here on in. Its a fine feeling having you back, Hammer. We love you.