The Woman in Black (1989 film)
| The Woman in Black | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover for the Woman in Black | |
| Directed by | Herbert Wise |
| Written by | Nigel Kneale, Susan Hill |
| Starring | Adrian Rawlins Bernard Hepton David Daker Pauline Moran |
| Music by | Rachel Portman |
| Distributed by | Granada Television (UK) |
Release dates | December 24, 1989 (USA) |
Running time | 100 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | 20 million pounds sterling |
The Woman in Black is a 1989 horror film starring Adrian Rawlins, Bernard Hepton, David Daker and Pauline Moran. Nigel Kneale adapted it from the novel by Susan Hill and it was directed by Herbert Wise.
The film was produced by Granada Television and was an unexpected success.
It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV on Christmas Eve 1989 (repeated only once by Channel 4 over Christmas 1994). Overall the TV adaptation stayed reasonably faithful to the original novel, although some of the changes angered the author Susan Hill (for example, the sex of the dog 'Spider' was changed from male to female). The TV version was released in the United Kingdom on VHS but only for a fairly short time. There was also a Region 1 DVD release but it is now out of print and, according to the messageboard at the site of Susan Hill, the TV rights are now owned by someone else. Apparently the rights have been purchased twice and currently reside with the U.S. studio Universal[1]. As a result of this there will probably be no further TV broadcasts of the TV movie or any further DVD releases.
Such is the popularity and demand for the out of print TV movie that the shortage of officially available copies created a small black market in illegal copies of the DVD release. At the time of writing, Susan Hill's official website states "Please do note.. if you are trying to track down Video or DVD copies of the old (1988) Television adaptation of The Woman in Black. The film and TV rights are now wholly owned by someone else and this TV version will not be shown again or re-issued. Meanwhile, pirate copies are sometimes for sale on ebay and amazon. THESE ARE COMPLETELY LEGAL and should be purchased".
Plot synopsis
Template:Spoiler The story centers around a young solicitor, Arthur Kipps, who is sent by his boss at his law firm to Crythin Gifford, a small market town on the East Coast of the United Kingdom, to attend to the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, an elderly widow who lived alone in solitary at Hell Marsh House.
On the train to Crythin Gifford, Kipps meets a rich man called Sam Toovey. Toovey gives Kipps a lift to his inn, where the innkeeper seems frightened after hearing that Kipps was here to manage the late Mrs. Drablow's affairs.
The next day, Kipps attends the funeral, with only another lawyer of Crythin Gifford present. While praying, he sneaks a glance back, where he notices a woman clad in black at the back of the church. He then sees her amongst the grave stones while Mrs. Drablow's coffin is being lowered into the ground. When he mentions the woman to Arnold Pepperell, the other lawyer, he immediately becomes shocked and looks visibly frightened. When Pepperell also notices some children watching the funeral, he immediately shoos them away, although Kipps has no idea what is wrong. Kipps then saves a child from injury during market day, and is suprised when no one tried to interfere. He learns why later on.
Since Pepperell refuses to accompany him, Kipps decides to make his way to the house alone. The house is situated on Nine Lives Causeway and, at high tide, is completely cut off from the mainland with only the surrounding marshes and sea frets for company. He is taken there by a John Keckwick, who knows the timing of the tides. He agrees to pick up Kipps in due time, after showing him how to work the electricity in the house.
Kipps then decides to walk around the graveyard near the house, when he sees the woman once again. This time he sees her face, and she begins to walk towards him. Terrified, he runs back into the house. While looking around the study room of the house, he finds two death certificates of two people that died on the same day as well as pictures of a young woman who might be the woman in black. After hearing some disturbing recordings made by Mrs. Drablow, he decides not to wait for Keckwick and go back to the town alone.
While walking on the path towards the town, mist clouds over, rendering Arthur blind on the dangerous path. Kipps then hears sounds of a horse trotting down the path and, thinking it is Keckwick, starts walking towards it. However, Kipps hears the sounds of the horse struggling, and a child crying and screaming. Kipps is lost, and can not find the horse and child, so he has no choice but to go back towards the house.
When Keckwick brings him back to town, Kipps decides to pay a visit to Mr. Toovey. Toovey tells him not to go back to the house, but Kipps, determined to finish his job, insists on returning to the house and staying there. Toovey then gives him a dog to keep him company.
Kipps searches through the papers in the study room of the house, but is then interrupted by the sounds of a bouncing ball from upstairs. Spider, the dog, starts whining and shows Kipps a door that can not be opened. A near terrified Kipps runs downstairs to get an axe to break down the door, only to come up and find the door had opened by itself.
Through the door, Kipps finds a child's nursery, and he sees a football bounce once on the floor. He has found the source of the noise. However, that is not the end of it. Suddenly, the sound of a child's laughter fills the room, along with an occasional 'Hello?'. Kipps also notices that a little toy soldier somehow found its way into his hand. He then realises that the electricity in the house is running out and, not willing to be left alone in the dark, rushes to the outhouse to power the electricity.
When Kipps and Spider are outside, Spider runs away. When Kipps tries to look for him, the noises of the horse and the child begin to start again. Kipps, frightened out of his skin, rushes back into the house and locks himself in. He then continues to study the papers in the house.
From various sources, Kipps learns that Mrs Drablow's sister, Jennet Humfrye, gave birth to a child, but was unable to care for it. Mrs Drablow and her husband adopted the boy, insisting he should never know that Jennet was his mother. One day, Jennet kidnapped her son and tried to escape via the causeway. The pony and trap carrying the boy and herself across the causeway became lost and sank into the marshes, killing all aboard. She then came back to Eel Marsh House and Crythin Gifford with a vengeful malevolence, as the Woman in Black.
Mr. Toovey finds Spider and immediately realises that something is wrong. He goes to Eel Marsh house, where he listens to Kipps' new finds. He then tells Kipps that according to local tales, seeing the Woman in Black meant that the death of a child would follow, which was why no one tried to interfere when the girl at the market was nearly crushed. Kipps decides to pack his things and leave the house. However, amongst the papers, he finds the soldier that had appeared in his hand in the child's room earlier. He points this out to Mr. Toovey, and decides to show him the nursery. However, when they reach there, the room (previously in perfect condition) is a mess, with all the toys broken and the furniture in shambles. This is too much for Kipps, who then faints.
Toovey brings him back to the inn, where Arthur falls into a deep sleep. However, he is awoken by the sound of the child's laughter, and he finds the soldier yet again in his hand. After asking the air what the child wanted out of him, the child replied that the soldier was for him. The woman in black then appears hovering over his bed, right next to his face, scaring him badly.
Arthur then returns to London to his family, and accuses his boss of sending him to Crythin Gifford because he was scared of his own safety. His boss then instructs him to look through the box of Mrs. Drablow's papers that Arthur brought home. At that moment, his two assistants come in and say that there was a customer for him, that didn't talk and just disappeared, and that she was a woman dressed completely in black. Delirious, Arthur searches madly through the box for the toy soldier. When he doesn't find it, he burns all the papers and the box, and half his office as well. His boss fires him, and he and his wife and children decide to leave London.
Arthur and his family are on a lake, rowing peacefully and gently, when Arthur sees the Woman in Black standing on the lake, watching him. Petrified, he does nothing, until his wife screams. A tree falls on their boat, crushing all within it. Template:Endspoiler
Trivia
- The TV movie was filmed near Maldon, Essex and the National Trust village of Lacock, near Chippenham, Wiltshire.
- The novel and play are not to be confused with Wilkie Collins's Victorian thriller The Woman in White.
Awards and nominations
The Woman in Black was nominated for four BAFTA awards, including Best Design, Best Film Sound, Best Make Up and Best Original Television Music.