MovieChat Forums > The Woman in Black (1989) Discussion > My expectations must have been too high

My expectations must have been too high

posted 17 years ago by la-cochonerie
24 replies | jump to latest

I'd been wanting to see this movie for a while now, but having finally seen it, I don't really understand what the fuss is about. I guess my expectations were too high. Although the famous bed scene was unexpected and a bit scary, 2 seconds into it, I couldn't help but think how ridiculous the actor looked. I half expected to see her eyes pop out of her head. The ending was really disappointing as well.

That said, I really think the movie/story has potential and honestly think the movie should be remade. Any word of a remake being in the works?

[–] fortean2 17 years ago

It's usually a problem when something has been hyped by so many - some people coming into it fresh are bound to be disappointed.

I'd recommend that you watch it again in a few months and then see what you think - you may find that you like it more.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Snusmumrikken 17 years ago

I was also disappointed. I thought it will be very scary, but was suspenseful the most. There was not so much horror scenes in the film either. Which was not good.

Hahaaa

[–] AlbinoBadBob 17 years ago

Its a spook story not a bloodbath,go watch Hostel for Gods sake.

God will forgive them, He'll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can't live with that.

[–] BrainGremlin 12 years ago

Goddamn it. He didn't fvcking say it needed gore.

---
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

[–] capkronos 17 years ago

I was looking forward to this also and ended up quite disappointed by it. I didn't find the 'bed scene' scary in the least. There were a couple of creepy images at the beginning and the end was decent but the middle seemed to drag on for about four hours. Loved the setting of the isolated seaside house but very little interested me plotwise. I'm a huge fan of gothic ghost movies like The Innocents and The Whip and the Body, and really enjoyed the TV production A Warning to the Curious also, but this movie didn't cut it. I rated it 5 out of 10.

[–] sugerfoot 17 years ago

I finally watched my copy of it and I also was a bit let down. It started off well. The scene where he sees her in the graveyard by the house and she starts to walk towards him...brrrr! But then it kind of died halfway through. I was so over hyped about the bedroom scene that I was on the edge of my seat, but then it was more funny than anything. And the ending?

However the next night when I was driving home I found that I couldn't get the image of the woman out of my head. I was actually afraid to look out my window when I was passing cemeteries for fear she would be standing there!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] foolishwolf 16 years ago

I can't believe this movie has been called "the scariest movie ever" by some here. It was hardly scary at all! The Exorcist scared the hell out of me and still somewhat does, but this movie was not scary. Creepy maybe at a few small points, but the acting sucked, the sound effects were completely noticeable and were mixed in badly, it was just not that good.

The bed scene got me, for about 2 seconds, and then I threw my hands up and said "that was it!?" His reaction was terrible too. And the couple times she was standing by the cemetery was slightly creepy, but that's about it.

This movie was a complete and utter disappointment. I was looking for a new movie to add to my "watch around Halloween" list, but in the case of The Woman In Black, I've come up short.

5/10

"Oh honey," I say, shaking my head, "the things I could do to you with a coat hanger."

[–] MrsStarbuck 16 years ago

I watched this last night, also with high expectations, but while it wasn't the scariest film I've ever seen, I certainly wasn't dissapointed.

To be fair, it's a bit of a slow starter. I was watching with my sister, and I could see her getting really restless during the opening scenes in London. But once he's alone in the house the film really stepped up a notch and I have to admit we were both watching it from behind a cushion!

Unfortunately the ending was a bit of an anti-climax after the shock of 'the scene', but the whole section in the house was outstanding IMO.

[–] Snake_Oil 16 years ago

Again, I'm another disappointed viewer. I liked the movie, but was let down due to the hight praise it's received online and in the genre press. Of course, if it hadn't been for that hype, I probably wouldn't have sought the movie out. A good flick that doesn't live up to its reputation. Maybe I'll revisit it in a couple of months as some have suggested, and see what I think then.

On another point, I expected the screams and the accident that Arthur repeatedly hears in the sea mist to be a foreshadowing of a fatal accident that would occur to his wife and children who would unexpectedly show up at the manor... of course, that's not what happened, and I was glad to see that I hadn't quite figured out the course the movie was taking.

[–] choctawdogmusher 16 years ago

I think that the after-effect was much scarier than the movie. I wasn't very impressed while watching it, but I felt a little jumpy afterwards. That night I saw a shadow that looked like the woman, and I almost peed my pants.

Kristen & the Fuzzy Huskies Team
http://www.freewebs.com/kristenssleddogs

[–] perorewen 16 years ago

That actually happened to me as well. I saw it first time when I was a child, and I was scared witless for a week after. The night after I'd seen it I was afraid to go to sleep, and most of the night I kept staring towards the window afraid the woman might come through it. In the years to follow I forgot completely about "the scene", I mean I had no recollection at all of it, except from the tin soldier (which was scary enough). The other scenes, however: her appearing at the church, at the moors, the child hidden in the locked room and the drowning horse, kept clinging to my mind and the very though of them terrified me.
At one occation (when I was a kid) I was even sure the woman was in the kitchen. I got so scared that I run up to a friend of mine to seek comfort, which only succeeded in giving her an equal fright.

**********
They blew up Congress!!! HAHAHA!

[–] DeathToPigs 16 years ago

It is weak. It leans too heavily on you presupposing that a woman dressed in Victorian mourning garb is necessarily terrifying.

[–] dangerous_ideaz 16 years ago

SPOILERS

I'd been wanting to see this movie for a while now, but having finally seen it, I don't really understand what the fuss is about. I guess my expectations were too high. Although the famous bed scene was unexpected and a bit scary, 2 seconds into it, I couldn't help but think how ridiculous the actor looked. I half expected to see her eyes pop out of her head. The ending was really disappointing as well.

I agree. I tracked WiB down recently after seeing how the people on this board praised it. But I think it moves too slowly and follows some of the horror conventions a bit too closely. I've seen all of the classic haunted house movies, and this does not compare to The Haunting or The Innocents. (I suspect the best image in the movie--the woman on the lake--was taken from The Innocents.)

I thought the woman's make-up when she appeared on the moor was more cadaverous than when she showed up in the bedroom, which detracted from those close-ups.

I also think the film should have ended with the main character losing one child. It's more horrific if a parent has to live with that tragedy than if the whole family dies together.

This might be an entertaining TV movie, but it does not compare to the classics made for the theater. See the original Haunting instead.

[–] PurpleNiobe 13 years ago

I am of course excited about the remake, and I didn't even know about this version until someone mentioned the gentleman playing Arthur in this version played Daniel Radcliff's father in Harry Potter.

I did not come to this IMDb page and no one that I knew had seen this version. SO I found it on YouTube and watched with pretty low "How could can an 80's horror film be?" kind of a mindset.

Overall, I highly enjoyed it and was pretty creeped out. Is it the "scariest movie ever"? No, but I don't think it needs to be. It's just a character driven, very eerie, unsettling and atmospheric ghost story free of blood and gore so I appreciated it.

I'm glad I didn't know about "The Scene". I wouldn't have jumped as much as I did if I had!

When the hurly-burly's done. When the battle's lost and won.