Not in Hogwarts anymore

Based on a 1980s horror novel, “The Woman in Black” follows a young solicitor in the early 1900s, Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), who must handle the estate of the creepiest and most decrepit mansion imaginable.

He, of course, disturbs the ghost of a mad woman who possesses children in the nearby village and causes them to kill themselves. For a period-thriller, the film does well in unnerving the audience with the countless dark corners that Arthur slowly rounds.

As far as sinister-looking schoolchildren go, its scare tactics tap into too many clichés.

Though broken porcelain dolls and tinkling music boxes in empty rooms never lose their unsettling qualities, the movie lacked the “thrill” that the build-up required. “The Woman in Black” could have been renamed “Harry Potter Wanders Around an Old House for Two Hours.”