10 Horror Movies Too Scary To Watch Again
6. The Woman In Black (1989)
No, not the Daniel Radcliffe version. This low-budget, made for TV adaptation is far superior, and far scarier. Pauline Moran's titular woman in black appears briefly and sporadically, often lingering in the background and slightly out of focus. And when we are shown a close-up of her face - deathly pale, red eyed and grimacing - it is truly bone-chilling.
This is exactly what newer supernatural horror films are missing: the apparition in this film is certainly preferable to the tacky-looking excuses for ghosts that are often churned out today. Just compare her to Valak in The Nun (2018), La Llorona in The Curse of La Llorona (2019) or the veiled old woman in Insidious (2010). There really is no contest. Even the updated version (which most people seem to have seen over this one, shamefully) cannot match the sheer malevolence and threat of the ghost in this film.
There is one appearance towards the end of the film which is particularly scarring, and is the sole instance where all subtlety is cast aside in favour of a bold, hard-hitting scare. In what is easily the movie's most memorable scene, the specter hovers above solicitor Arthur Kidd's bed, screeching and gliding towards him while he cowers beneath like a frightened child.