10 Overhyped Horror Movies You Wish You'd Not Watched
8. The Woman in Black (1989)
Hailed by your mum, your dad, your teachers and pretty much anyone other Brit who was alive in the '80s as one of the scariest films of all time, ITV's 1989 Christmas Eve horror movie The Woman In Black has always had an awful lot to live up to.
Adapted from Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same name, it focuses on young solicitor Arthur Kidd (Adrian Rawlins) who travels to east-coast market town Crythin Gifford to settle the estate of a recently deceased reclusive widow, where he discovers the town haunted by the titular woman.
The film has its moments - not least the bedroom scene towards the conclusion - but on the whole, The Woman in Black hasn't aged well. Apart from the fact that it trudges along at a snail's pace (an unfortunate attribute of most ghost stories), it is all a bit hammy, a bit rough around the edges. And there are too few scares with a lot of space in-between, rendering the whole thing a dull, snooze-worthy affair.
This is one instance in which the modern remake was not only justified but vindicated when compared side-by-side with its predecessor.