Reviews of The Woman In Black have been generally favourable. As of 4 February 2012, the film has a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 144 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10, with a consensus that says: Traditional to a fault, The Woman in Black foregoes gore for chills -- although it may not provide enough of them for viewers attuned to modern, high-stakes horror." The film has received a rating of 62/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews"
"The jury is still out on whether Daniel Radcliffe possesses the chops, nous and nuance to sustain a rewarding acting career away from Hogwarts. But credit where it's due: the former Potter has taken a shrewd baby-step in the right direction with this busy, bustling ghost story that at times appears less indebted to the Susan Hill bestseller than the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. The plot is skeletal, a bag of bones, spring-loaded with booby-traps and wired to the mains as it shuttles Radcliffe's widowed young lawyer around Eel Marsh House, the obligatory "old place cut off from the outside world".
Outside, in the cold, the Cold Comfort locals have secrets to hide. Inside, in the dark, the chairs are rocking and the stairs are creaking. There's a face in every window and cobwebs on the chandeliers. I'll confess that James Watkins's exuberant joy-buzzer direction had me jumping in my seat and clutching pathetically at the armrest. All the same, I remain undecided about Radcliffe, who endures each shuddering shock with a blank, stoic fortitude that suggests a teenager taking his driving test. He passes, but only just." _ The Guardian
"Radcliffe, having graduated for good from the Harry Potter movies, is quietly compelling as Kipps: his drawn face bears a pallid sheen, and his blue eyes are glazed with exhaustion. Still mourning his late wife, he is already preoccupied by death before he arrives in the accursed village. His progress thereafter has the dreamlike quality of one who cannot escape.
This film is a reminder that the old scares, freshly executed, remain the sharpest. I woke in the night and remembered a face at the Eel Marsh House window: it took me rather a long time to get back to sleep." - The Telegraph
See the stage version of The Woman In Black at the Fortune Theatre now