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Forgive me for sounding hyperbolic, but this is a very crucial moment in time for Daniel Radclffe. Yes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II broke nearly every box-office record in existence, but now this young lead actor must prove that he can carry a movie beyond wizardry and built-in franchises based upon already successful books. In short, he’s probably got a few years and a couple of misses to rely upon, but Radcliffe must prevail beyond the character that he portrayed for nearly a decade. And he’s certainly got a promising start; for three years ago, he made his (nude) Broadway debut in Equus to rave reviews. Now, Radcliffe makes his post-Harry Potter cinematic debut in a film called The Woman in Black. If you’re interested in an official description, well sure. Here you go:
The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent.
[From Hammer Films]
C’mon. This is an an adaptation of the 1983 novel (by Susan Hill) about a specter that haunts an English town, so we could at least characterize Radcliffe’s character as a proper “barrister,” right? Check out the trailer, and afterwards, we’ll discuss:
Freaky, right? That “thing” at 1:15 completely threw me off guard, and I seriously doubt that poor Kaiser will be sleeping for at least the next three nights. Mostly, the atmosphere is what does the trick here, although the creepy little girls and Radcliffe certainly don’t hurt matters. The film does look quite interesting, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see the full theatrical trailer, which will hopefully arrive in short order, no?
Movie stills courtesy of HammerFilms.com
Written by Bedhead
Posted in Daniel Radcliffe
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62 Responses to “Daniel Radcliffe goes scary in ‘The Woman in Black’ trailer, how does he fare?”
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Very scary….I’m in (unless I wimp out)!
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This looks good. I will forever love him, and watch anything he’s in.
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I love Daniel, but I don’t know if I would like to see him in a horror movie.. On the other hand, the trailer looks promising, It looks like it’s a good horror movie…
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This guy can’t act, for goodness sake. His face is always plastic, no expression whatsoever. I used to like him in Harry Potter when he was just a little boy, but it became more and more obvious with years that he just can’t act!
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Oooohhh, I really want to see this now! And I don’t even like this dude.
EDIT (@ Elena):
Yup, I agree. He can’t act to save his life — but at least he’s not obnoxious like Justin Timberacts.
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I’m not seeing a “thing” at 1:15, just Daniel Radcliff.
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Is that house exterior the same as the one in The Others?
Anyway, looks like a creepy (but not gory) movie…right up my alley!
Edit: Yeah, 1:15 was a black screen. But 1:12 was the girls looking positively corpse-like.
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it’s so wrong to lust after him…….I’m too old……..but I do (wringing hands)
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Oh Wow this looks good he looks good, the kid can act, I love period movies. I’d for sure go see it. And I don’t really care for scary films.
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I think the “thing” is actually around 1:22, it walks up behind Radcliffe…
Unless Bedhead meant Radcliffe is the thing
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I think DR is a good actor. I’m glad he’s getting a chance to branch out beyond Harry Potter.
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Ooooh. I cannot wait
<3 DR, <3 horror.
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I saw the stage show of this a couple of years ago and it scared the living daylights out of me. I can’t wait to see it – and I think Daniel looks surprisingly dashing.
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OHOHOH. I had a chance to work on a staging of this play a few years back, and it is one of the best. plays. ever. I worked on it (crew), I knew the script backwards and forwards, and I STILL jumped and shrieked TWICE when I saw it performed. The 80s film version was pretty good, and I have high hopes for this one.
If you have a chance to see the play performed anywhere, DO IT. SO GOOD.
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This looks pretty good. I’m surprised, a horror movie for his big jump is pretty risky since they often run the risk of being cheesy. I can’t wait to see more, particularly a scene or two of his actual acting in the film rather than him doing things without dialogue.
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I have seen the stage play of this and I wish I had brought extra underpants because it was RIDICULOUSLY scary. I think this is fantastic casting and I’m really looking forward to seeing it.
ETA: Gecko, ha exactly. THAT bit, where all the audience completely lose their s***!
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Looks promising and I want to see how well Radcliffe does in a different role. Seems to be a horror-mystery with an interesting story.
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I saw TWiB years and years ago in London in a theatre. It was well-acted and scary, and the collective holding of one’s breath of the whole audience in one scene was something I’ve never experienced before or after, and I grew up on stage, albeit as a ballet dancer.
I have no idea how they will transfer that particular moment onto the screen, but I’m looking forward to it.
To those who think DanRad can’t act: go see him live on stage, he’s impressive.
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I’m loving this…will difinitely take the movie in. Daniel rocks!
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I’m not into horror movies but I’ll go see this, just to see if DanRad has it in him to be a good to very good actor. Maybe he’ll actually grow out of Harry Potter!
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@embertine THE STAIRS. THE DOOR. I just gave myself the chills again!
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I am not a fan of his, and I eally don’t know why.
The movie is a big MEH for me. Doesn’t look scary, and no, I am not into slasher films, but this looks like your basic ghost story, like an old timey The Ring.
I’ll wait until it comes out on HBO.
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Looks like it might be good. I’ll see it. I am curious to see how well DR does.
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Gecko, THE STAIRS!!!! Eek, that’s brought it all back, I’m sitting in the middle of a hot office getting cold shivers.
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I am a big fan of this guy. Every interview shows he’s an amazingly grounded, gifted and pleasant young man – very self-aware and giving of his time and support to various charities and endeavors.
He was fantastic on Broadway and I’m very excited to see this. (And I don’t even like these sorts of Victorian, bleak, scary, ghost-y type movies. My excitement is driven purely by him.)
Go Daniel.
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@embertine I was working wardrobe at a rep theatre the summer we did Woman in Black, and the actress playing The Woman had a killer sense of humour. I remember one night when I had been building pieces for another production backstage in the theatre when WiB was playing. I thought I was totally alone, until I wandered through the green room and she was there, in full costume, veil down, waiting for her cue – she just turned her head, ever so slowly, and looked at me… I yelped and just about jumped out of my skin! She made fun of me for that for weeks.
She also enjoyed hanging out in the shadows in the parking lot after the show let out and freaking out the patrons.
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I actually think that his acting has tremendously improved over the years (Just finished a HP-marathon =P) and he is one of my favourite celebrities by far.
Grounded, hilariously funny and not falling out of bars every weekend. I wish him more than the best.
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I just read the book this week so it’s all fresh in my mind. Who are the little girls in it ? They’re not in the book. There’s no writing on the wall in the book. And why is there a girl’s voice on the voiceover for the trailer, that makes no sense.
Humph, won’t be seeing this if they’re going to be adding elements to what was a very good story.
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Ho-ly mo-ly.
The book was TERRIFYING. This is going to sound so cliche, but I read it on a stormy evening all alone, and I was scared out of my wits. I think it would have been (99.9999%) as scary at any other time… but the darkness and rain outside my house, coupled with the locked room that the barrister can’t open… I felt a little bit like I was in the marsh house myself! *shivers*
I can’t wait to see this!
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looks good
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I love movies like this! I’m not into horror/slasher films at all but I love a good, gothic creepy ghost story, like The Others or the Spanish film The Orphanage. Soooo creepy without actually “doing” anything.
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This is a remake – the original is terrifying. I watched it a few times as a young teenager and while it scared the piss out of me, I grew to love me a good horror.
Looking forward to taking my wimp boyfriend to see it.
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this looks good!!
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I so want to see this movie. It looks really good.
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i have more faith in daniel branching out and becoming a great actor post harry potter than i do in emma watson.
cant wait for it to come out, though i probably wont be able to sleep afterwards
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I have no idea if Radcliffe can act, since I think his acting in the HP movies were well not very good. So this will be interesting, and suddenly I kinda see why some of my friends think he’s attractive, not sure if it’s the hair or the clothes…
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Looks really good. I prefer scary movies with less blood spilling.
He definitely looks good here.
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@Nymeria: Okay now I want to read the book first!
Even if you have seen the movie “The Shining”, it’s one of the best horror novels I have ever read. If not the best.
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dude can act. He was AMAZING in Equus. The HP franchise, while entertaining, was simply not all that well written and Radcliff was boxed in by the writing. The whole cast was. I’m looking forward to this film.
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i’ve not read the book but i saw the play a few years ago and it was awesome. very creepy and gothic.
so i’m in.
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I’ve never seen any of the three main Harry Potter actors in anything else except for Harry Potter and they weren’t especially talented in their roles. Maybe a different role will showcase a hidden talent for acting that I haven’t seen yet. However, I think what makes the Harry Potter stars likeable is that Emma, Rupert, and Daniel seem incredibly grounded, mature, self aware, and even intelligent. It’s nice to see young adult actors who have their head on straight and are at least putting in the effort to play their roles well and establish a solid career for themselves even if acting doesn’t come naturally for them like it does for someone like Meryl Streep. Half the time it is about picking the right roles and script and Daniel seems to be making good choices. This looks like a really good movie and I look forward to seeing it.
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@ Melissa: You should read the book!
Not necessarily before you see the movie, but it is an excellent book; the writer captures the richly detailed 19th century literary style perfectly. (The book was published in 1983, btw.) It is a psychological thriller – more like a gleefully gothic mindf*ck, really; there isn’t any gore per se.
And I love The Shining! I thought the book was miles better than the movie. I think The Woman in Black is actually much scarier than The Shining… and Stephen King is hard to top when it comes to horror.
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@pebbles LOL! he does look attractive with his blue eyes and dark shock of hair, wish he was taller *sigh*
don’t think i’ve the guts to watch horror, not worth the nightmares and sleepless nights!
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it’s great, and scary but all I can think is ‘get yourself a pair of tweezermans love’
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Spooky fun!!
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Holy crap! I love a good scary movie, and that trailer set shivers up my spine!
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I think Dan has a chance to be a very good dramatic actor. Movie looks interesting.
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I love the period clothing on Daniel. Very grown up.
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first, it looks like a doctor who episode without the tardis… and second, daniel ratcliff looks great, greater than i would have ever thought, especially the sideburns…
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third, it seems that he really tries to make the actor-thing happen and is taking lessons. something i would recommend emma watson, she is enjoying too much being a model and a coat-hanger… but who knows maybe the trailer of the perks of a wallflower will convince me that she is a good actress… in hp not so much.
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I love goth scary movies; I read about this some time ago, I am so looking forward to seeing it!
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This looks so good. I saw the much older version not that long ago and it was excellent. His acting has improved so much and he is very likeable. I hope he does well
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This is actually quite a good look for him.
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Doesn’t look that scary to me, but then again I am a Horror fanatic from way back, so not much fazes me these days lol. But yeah, I’d still watch this. DR looks perfectly cast.
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I will see the movie. Radcliffe is quite handsome in the trailer!
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Thanks Nymeria! I just downloaded the book to my iBooks app.
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Oh my, he looks good in that suit.
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I’m not much of a horror fan.. I’m a wimp
But I do wish him well. I wish all the Potter kids well. They worked hard in those movies. I’m not sure the Potter movies give us a fair idea of their acting ability though. The characters were a bit static to me. But the actors all seem very nice and sensible and i want them to be happy. i still loved the movies and the books, even though i consider both movies and books to be mindless fun.
i like my mindless fun.
Rock on Daniel, Rupert and Emma!!
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He looks like David Tennant first photo. Then again, all British dandies look like David Tennant.
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I love this guy, and will see anything he is in. Especially after he was so great in that WW1 thing about Rudyard Kipling’s son. @pebbles: ha ha, I’m 18 years his senior, but I do think some lustful thoughts about him also.
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Hope it will be good and wish him the best of luck. I won’t judge his acting until I’ve seen him in a couple of movies more as an adult but I think the fact he managed to do theater for a while and god rave reviews shows me he is intent on being a good actor not just a “star”
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Resembling Elijah Wood much?
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