10 TERRIFYING Made-For-TV Horror Movies

Duel may have the Spielberg touch but when it comes to sheer visceral terror, nothing beats Herbert Wise's supernatural cult sleeper, The Woman In Black. Fans of the Daniel Radcliffe version take note - you may have the budget but nothing can hold a candle to this slow-burn masterpiece of suspense and to date, the most faithful adaptation of Susan Hill's greatest ghost story.

Young London based solicitor Arthur Kidd is tasked with settling the affairs of a recently deceased recluse Alice Drablow, a widow who lived out her days in Eel Marsh House, an isolated and lonely place accessible only at low tides from a causeway jutting from the East English coastline. When he encounters a sinister woman dressed in black, the inhabitants of the market town of Crythin Gifford are fearful to even speak her name. They know all too well that when she is sighted, somewhere, somehow, a child will die...

Some minor changes aside (character names, the mechanics of the climax), Herbert Wise(ly) sticks to the events of the book; isolated location, a rational and sceptical protagonist, country bumpkins living in fear, omens of death and so on.

The sight of the ghost standing deathly still on the marsh is enough to give you the heebie jeebies and as for THAT SCENE towards the conclusion of the story, well, just don't expect to get any sleep for a week. If a made for TV movie has the power to terrify through some simple tricks and damn fine writing, Hollywood take note - you're running out of excuses.