Late last year it was reported that the newly revived Hammer Films had a version of Susan Hill's chiller The Woman in Black in the works. Now, Variety are reporting that not only does the film boast a screenplay by Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass), but it also has Eden Lake's James Watkins attached to direct. We were already trepidacious, but now we're downright terrified.
Hill's slim novel is about a solicitor arriving in a small market town to deal with the funeral and estate of one Alice Drablow, the spooky widowed resident of Eel Marsh House. Ensconced in her home, he is plagued by terrifying noises and visitations, and gradually pieces together the awful Drablow family secret, leading to a shocking ending.
A stage adaptation has been a permanent fixture in London's West End since 1989, and that year there was also an ITV adaptation that mentally scarred everyone who stayed up to watch it on Christmas Eve. Watkins will be hard-pressed to top it, but after Eden Lake, we wouldn't be surprised.