Resurrected UK Horror Studio Hammer Films has come back with a new vehicle for ex-Harry Potter wunderkind Daniel Radcliffe and the most anyone can say about The Woman In Black is that it could easily be prefixed Scary Potter and the Woman In Black. It’s no fault of the narrative of the film or the producers, it’s just for most people going in Radcliffe’s stint as Potter in eight films is going to be a driving reason to see The Woman in Black, not the Hammer Studio notice or the bump-in-the-night scare tactics. Luckily The Woman in Black is a strong enough movie on its own that the distraction of Radcliffe’s past isn’t enough to muddy the waters of the films horror roots.

At it’s heart The Woman in Black is your basic haunted house story, playing out much like an episode of Supernatural. The spooky atmosphere of the house and town are creepy enough, but nowhere near the iconic Overlook hotel of Kubrick’s The Shining. As Radcliffe enters into town to collect the papers of the estate’s late occupant he notices the strange goings-on right away. Things move, people appear and disappear and loud noises threaten the comfort of our hero and us. The narrative eventually unravels into a story about a mother and her child, split early in the child’s life and the woman seeking revenge who thought they knew better than the child’s own mother. It’s a tragic tale at its heart and may have had more of an impact if not for the garish and cliche scares, but Hammer’s producers also know that it’s these scares that people really go to horror movies for.

As it stands, there is nothing wholly memorable about The Woman in Black as a story. It’s resolution is a little more happy than other horror films of late, and it is an understated and mildly twisted take on the happy ending, which I could appreciate. But wouldn’t a punch like the ending of Frank Darabont’s The Mist leave a more lasting impression? Or the dark humour of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell make for something a little more substantial. The Woman In Black just takes its middling story a little too seriously with Radcliffe brooding and the townsfolk in a constant fog of despair that fails to clear by the films end.

The scares are adequately staged, and certainly can keep you on the edge of your seat. But the mystery is really of no consequence since it’s this gloom that drives the film. We’re stuck focusing on the look and feel of the film–which is supposed to compliment the narrative–and though these two elements compliment each other there’s a disconnect because everything is played out with such gravitas you hope for some real humour in the film. I recently watched The Beach, and while many critics claimed that the third act of that film came out of left field I think it’s that sort of surprise that The Woman in Black could have used. Radcliffe could really have exercised his acting chops had he gone a little nuts with his single-father widower on his last leg in a haunted house. Instead it all plays out just a little too safe to really mean anything.

I won’t say not to see The Woman In Black, but just know that it will meet expectations, but not exceed them. Not disappointed, but not enthused, either.