Solicitor Arthur Kidd is sent to a remote town to deal with the estate of a recently deceased widow. However, at her funeral, he sees a woman in black…

Susan Hill wrote The Woman In Black in 1983. It was well received as a chilling ghost story, influenced by the classics of the past, the story, setting and manner in which it is told a throwback to the past. It’s a damn scary book indeed, with an ending that will haunt you.

In 1987, the book was adapted into a stage play, which is still running today. I saw a touring version of it around 1996 and it too was scary. I was quite impressed by it.

The television rights to the book were picked up company called Central, which planned to make a version of the story, that would be broadcast on Christmas Eve in 1989 on the ITV network. British television has had many ghost stories broadcast around the festive period over the years.

The adaptation was written by Nigel Kneale. I’m a big fan of Kneale’s Quatermass stories, which combine science fiction and horror to great effect. He was one television’s greatest writers, with not only Quatermass, but a version of 1984, The Year Of The Sex Olympics and many other stories for the medium. John Carpenter was a huge fan, for whom Kneale worked on Halloween III with, before disagreements resulted in Kneale taking his name off the project (Carpenter also used the pseudonym Martin Quatermass on the Kneale inspired Prince Of Darkness). Other famous fans of his work include Stephen King, Grant Morrison and writer Russell T Davies, the later of which was responsible for the return of Doctor Who in 2005, although Kneale himself was never a fan.

But there is also The Stone Tape, a truly chilling story made for TV in 1972. Even now nearly fifty years later and despite only being classed as a ‘PG’ by today’s standards, it still gets under your skin. Kneale knew how to scare you. When he was approached about adapting The Woman In Black, after reading it and liking the novel, he agreed.

He does make changes to the story, some of which the author wasn’t enthused about, though over time her opinion has softened. In the novel, Arthur’s last name is Kipps, but Kneale, being a huge HG Wells fan, felt that was wrong and changed it to Kidd. He made other changes too, dropping the opening and closing of the book, which is perhaps understandable, giving how it opens and closes. He also adds a recording device to the story to allow the widow to speak herself, instead of using letters to get the story across. It’s a little, but welcome decision.

I saw this when broadcast in 1989 and it scared me. It has only been shown once since on British TV, in 1994 on Channel 4. Since then, it seemed to disappear. We did get a cinema version in 2012, starring Daniel Radcliffe which I do like to be fair and a sequel to this in 2014, which I thought no better than okay.

But now, in 2020 a newly restored version of the TV version has been unleashed. The question to be asked then is this; is this as scary as its reputation suggests?

It’s directed by Herbert Wise. Wise spent his career working in TV with the classic TV series I, Claudius, along with The Woman In Black perhaps his best work. He directs economically, letting the camera move slowly as characters walk or talk. creates, along with Kneale’s script, a building dread into the film. We know something bad is going to happen and Wise builds and builds until unleashing it with one of the best scares in horror.

What’s perhaps interesting is watching it again and realising how effective Wise is in staging the scares. Aside from the one everyone remembers, the Woman herself doesn’t appear that often, so when she does the effect is unsettling and chilling, even in daylight. Most modern films, including the film version of The Woman In Black often have their ghost approaching behind our hero, appearing in scenes where they don’t see it and usually far too often, but Wise doesn’t take that approach. He believes less is more effective and on that front he is right. She may not appear often, but she dominates the film.

The TV film is very well shot by Michael Davis, Incredibly, according to the IMDB, this is his only work! The set, production and sound designs are all first rate and the film has a suitably creepy score by Rachel Portman.

The cast are superb. Adrian Rawlins plays Arthur and he is very good in the role, that of a good man, unaware of what awaits him and is compelling to watch as he crumbles in the face of the horror. Bernard Hepton plays Sam Toovey, the only local willing to help Arthur, the others being too afraid. Pauline Moran plays The Woman In Black herself and despite having no lines, she is a truly unsettling figure, one full of rage and anger. While not having large roles, Clare Holman, David Daker and David Ryall are good in support too.

I love ghost stories, they are my favourite ones in the horror genre and one of the reasons for that, is they often get the endings right. Not always a happy one, many don’t, but they have the right ending for the story being told. To that end, The Woman In Black delivers. It isn’t the one from the book, but the one it does have is as powerful and will linger with you as the credits role.

Much like The Woman In Black herself…

Rating: ***** out of 5

The restoration looks incredible. You get a widescreen version as well. There’s also a terrific commentary from Kim Newman, Mark Gatiss and Andy Nyman, who has a small role in the film.

One note of trivia: Adrian Rawlins would go on to play James Potter in the Harry Potter films. Harry of course is played by Daniel Radcliffe…who would go on to play Arthur in 2012’s film. Rawlins would appear in the sequel to that film, subtitled Angel Of Death.