The Woman In Black And The Genius of Nigel Kneale

Daniel Radcliffe's first post Harry Potter film The Woman In Black based on the 1983 novel by Susan Hill has apparently done well at the box office since its release in the USA and comes out this week in the UK.As well as the original novel there has been a long running London stage version with a cast of three actors.a BBC radio version and a made for television film version scripted by veteran horror writer Nigel Kneale first broadcast in 1989.I have not seen the stage version or heard the radio version but have read the original novel and seen the 1989 TV version which is one of the best scripts that Nigel Kneale ever produced. Naturally I was intrigued as to how the new movie version would stand up.Having seen a couple of trailers and read a synopsis of the new film my heart sank.From what I have seen and read of the new film it only seems to highlight the skill of Nigel Kneales adaption which pace Susan Hill I consider to be an improvement on the original novel.From what I have seen of the new film version it is no more faithful to the original novel than Kneale's version but cliched and derivative of other ghost story  movies in a way that Kneale managed to avoid.