'Woman in Black' summons suspense

The Woman in Black very nearly suffocates under the mounting weight of its gothic kitsch -- an abandoned house, child ghosts, spooky dolls, oh my! -- but nevertheless summons ornately crafted, old-fashioned suspense.

This is the second film for British director James Watkins, whose previous Eden Lake gathered an intriguing story about class out of a confrontation in the woods between a vacationing couple (Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly) and a violent gang of youths.

Watkins prefers the term "thriller" to "horror," and by these two films, it's obvious he's interested in using fright for more than just shock and something closer to real life.

In his first post-Potter film, Daniel Radcliffe stars as the struggling, widowed London lawyer Arthur Kipps. With a little facial scruff and clad in an early 20th century suit of the time, Radcliffe looks respectably adult.

Kipps is a morose young man, still grieving the loss of his wife in childbirth. His now 4-year-old son (Misha Handley) already has him down, in caricature, drawing him as a stick figure with a giant frown. Yes, young Harry Potter is now a (believable) dad, which means we can all collectively sigh and pretend to shoot ourselves.

He's dispatched to the (fictional) remote eastern British village of Crythin Gifford to put in order the estate of the recently deceased Alice Drablow. The sense of foreboding comes quickly and thickly, as the townspeople eye him suspiciously and Kipps is placed in an inn room where three young sisters killed themselves.

Death hangs over the town so heavily that whimpering comes even from a parrot, which no doubt had plenty of chances to mimic the sound.

The ivy-covered Eel Marsh House, which Kipps is to sort, is classically menacing in the Victorian way. Set back from the village down the ominously named Nine Lives Causeway, it's an island in a cold marsh that ebbs with the tide.

Inside the cobwebbed home, reflections, apparitions and shadows steadily increase as Kipps digs into the history of the Drablows as well as the village. Tragedies of the town's children populate its past and present -- occurrences that seem connected to a lurking, dark figure.

Watkins' film, nifty and taught, is a worthy enough heir to that tradition. It's a film, ultimately, about the trappings of grief wallowing.

The Woman in Black, a CBS Films release, is rated PG-13 for thematic material and violence, disturbing images. Running time: 95 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.