The Woman in Black

Hammer got a resurgence like about 13 years ago.

Yeah, with Women in Black, right? Women in Black? Yeah.

Is that the name of it? Yeah, Daniel Radcliffe.

Oh, okay.

Había una pequeña lamparita que estaba así incrustada en la pared.

Yo lo que vi fue... ¿Sí has visto la Dama de Negro, la obra de la Dama de Negro?

Sí, sí la he visto.

Haz de cuenta.

Dice: "¿Qué vamos a hacer?".

Sí.

Pero te digo, y ahí es donde en mi aparición, que yo, yo vi eso, pero te digo, yo vi a la Dama de Negro.

A la Dama de Negro.

And similar movies according to Letterboxd.

We have The Sixth Sense, The Orphanage, The Woman in Black, The Haunting 1963, and The Haunting 1999.

Let's do some funny reviews and get the fuck out of here.

I would

[laughs] Yes, they're being very patient with me tonight.

But the first horror film I saw in theaters was one that I've talked about on the show before, which is The Woman in Black from 2012.

I don't know.

It could just be the, my fondness [laughs] for this film, but I still think this movie's really good.

I think it's gothic, and I think it's really fucking creepy.

I love how one of the main scares in the film is that The Woman in Black is in almost every shot if you just look hard enough.

And this movie did fuck me up for real.

I actually had to go sleep at a friend's house after this, 'cause it was, like, a fun, like, sleepover excursion, and I did not sleep.

On one hand, you've got the low crumbling stone walls of Fort Constitution An old military stronghold that's been standing guard since the days of the King of England on the other hand Rising up like a white sentinel against the dark blue water.

You've got the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse It's a beautiful spot on a clear day You can watch the sailboats glide by and the white tower looks almost picture postcard perfect But when the Sun starts to dip below the tree line and the shadows of the Old fort walls begin to stretch across the grass Like long dark fingers the atmosphere changes you can feel it The air gets cold the wind off the river starts to sound a whole lot like a sigh And if you keep your eyes on the catwalk at the very top of that lighthouse Or on the rocky beach below you just might catch a glimpse of the Seacoast most elegant and most tragic phantom They call her the lady in black To understand why she wanders these grounds you have to understand just how vital and dangerous This little patch of land has always been the Piscataqua River is one of the fastest flowing tidal rivers in North America The current treacherous the rocks are sharp and for over 250 years the Portsmouth harbor light Has been the only thing keeping incoming ships from being ripped to pieces on the ledges Back in the eighteen hundreds being a lighthouse keeper wasn't just a job It was a grueling round -the-clock battle against the elements You had to lug heavy cans of oil up a spiral staircase Keep the glass meticulously clean of soot and salt spray and make sure that light Never ever ever went out No matter how hard the wind blew or how cold the rain fell and on this particular stretch of coast The keepers family lived right there on the grounds sharing me in the isolation and the constant anxiety of a life ruled by the sea So the story goes that sometime in the mid 19th century A young deeply devoted couple moved into the keepers quarters The husband was the newly appointed keeper a strong seafaring man who took his duties incredibly seriously His young wife was a beautiful quiet woman who adored him She didn't mind the lonely nights or the endless howling of the wind as long as she knew her husband was safe Inside the tower But as any old sailor will tell you the ocean is a jealous mistress.

It just doesn't like to share It was late autumn evening when the storm rolled in.

Now, it wasn't just a regular gale.

She refused to go back to the mainland where life went on Instead, she dressed herself in the heavy black mourning dress of a Victorian widow, a long rustling black gown, a dark shawl, and a thick black lace veil that completely hid her pale face from the world Every single day, she would pace the catwalk of the lighthouse staring out at the spot where the ship had gone down And every evening, she would wander the rocky beach below Her black dress trailing through the damp sand and salt wet stones searching the tide pools as if hoping the sea would finally wash her husband back to her Eventually, she simply faded dying of a broken heart it was said But her vigil? Her vigil never ended.

Now For well over a hundred years coast guardsmen park rangers and tourists have reported that the Portsmouth Harbor Light has a shadow that doesn't belong to the sun One of most famous encounters happened in the mid nineteen hundreds when a young Coast Guardsman was stationed at the light It was a quiet foggy night and he was doing his routine rounds.

As he climbed the spiral staircase of the tower he felt a sudden freezing draft blow past him unusual because the heavy iron door at the bottom was tightly shut and he knew it As he reached the landing room and stepped out onto the narrow catwalk he checked the horizon there standing just a few feet away from him leaning against the railing was a woman dressed entirely in Victorian era black silk The wind was whipping her long dress around her ankles but she made absolutely no sound The guardsman thinking a tourist had somehow snuck past the security gates stepped forward and said excuse me ma'am but you shouldn't be up here It's not safe The woman...She didn't reply She slowly turned her head toward him Beneath the dark laced veil the guardsman couldn't see any eyes just a hollow pale shadow where a face should have been Before he could even draw a breath to scream, the figure simply dissolved into the thick ocean fog leaving behind nothing but the faint unmistakable scent of old dried lavender and the damp chill of the grave But she doesn't just stay in the tower Visitors exploring the crumbling stone ruins of nearby Fort Constitution have reported seeing her walking slowly along the grassy battlements She's always described the same way: a tall graceful figure in black Walking with her head bowed as if deep in prayer or sorrow People who tried to approach her say that as you get close the ambient sound of the ocean and the crying seagulls suddenly cuts out replaced by a heavy dead silence And then she's gone Leaving you standing alone on the cold stone with a shivering feeling that you've just stepped into space where you don't belong and time doesn't exist Some locals believe she isn't there to scare people but to watch over the harbor They say that on the nights when a sudden unexpected storm rolls in the lady in Black can be seen standing at the very edge of the water Her dark veil blowing back her arms outstretched toward the sea as if trying to warn the incoming ships away from the very rocks that broke her heart so long ago If you ever find yourself out at Newcastle as the twilight begins to paint the sky in shades of deep violet and slate gray take a walk down toward the light Listen closely to the rustle of the wind through the tall grass near the fort And if you see a shape dressed in black standing against the White Tower Don't call out to her Just let her keep her quiet Watch She's been doing it for a very very long time and she has absolutely no intention of stopping now We've spent a good deal of time right down where the saltwater crashes against the rocks breathing in that heavy Salt encrusted air But if you follow the Tide Inland just a short drive up the Piscatawa Out along the winding brackish waters of the Oyster River You'll find yourself in the historic town of Durham Up here, the ocean feels a little further away.

Replaced by towering old pines, ancient stone walls, and a deep quiet sense of history that goes back almost four hundred years.

Black mourning clothes, cemeteries, funeral processions, old photographs, preserved bodies, family portraits, mausoleums, and memorial objects.

One example is The Woman in Black.

Susan Hill's 1983 novel and its later film adaptations use Victorian mourning clothing as part of the appearance of the ghost.

The Woman in Black is associated with funerals and the deaths of children.

Her clothing immediately identifies her as a figure associated with mourning.

Another example is Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak.

Teatro México, eh, dirección Rafael Perrín.

Que es el que ha dirigido por mil años La dama de negro.

Oye, y si yo fuera Omar Suárez, pero yo firm-- le hablo ahorita ya al representante de la Klitbo, porque pues va a traer esta euforia de la casa y te digo que yo la vi con ella-

Ajá, va a traer el jalón de taquilla.

Planning better, the director of this had previously directed a middling horror movie called Eden Lake.

a middling horror movie with Daniel Radcliffe called The Woman in Black, a middling horror movie that we saw last year called Speak No Evil.

That's your director.

There goes all of my, there it goes.

Simply because I like the title.

It's like The Woman in Black, isn't it? The Widow Wore Crimson.

That's a terrific title.

Yeah, I'd watch that.