Let’s face it: Daniel Radcliffe has probably already been in the most successful movie of his career. With the last Harry Potter movie earning more than a billion dollars worldwide, Radcliffe has little chance of topping that film. Similarly, he has little chance of escaping being known as Harry Potter for the rest of his life, since even his attempts at Broadway success were marred by screaming fangirls. Knowing that, Radcliffe can probably be more selective in his roles than most young actors. For his first post-Potter role, Radcliffe chose horror movie remake “The Woman in Black.”

“The Woman in Black,” based on a 1983 novel and a 1989 film, sees Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) traveling to a small village in England to settle the affairs of deceased Alice Drablow. He arrives in town to find that everyone is afraid of Drablow’s house, yet no one will tell him why.

Of course, Kipps visits the house anyways. While he looks through her papers, he hears noises both inside and outside the house. When he goes to the window to investigate, he briefly sees a woman in black, who then instantly disappears. When he returns to town, he finds that a young girl has poisoned herself with lye, which is then blamed on his visit to the house. According to the villagers, whenever anyone sees the Woman in Black, she kills a child in order to exact revenge for the death of her own child.

The plot is certainly compelling and provides for more than enough jumps, gasps and yelps from the audience. With expert cinematography and art direction, “The Woman in Black” is better than most horror movies. Even if the house in the middle of a swamp isn’t scary enough, the camera is placed so that even miniscule changes in the background are perceptible to the audience, who can jump without Kipps even knowing anything is wrong.

On the subject of Kipps, many eyes will pay attention to Radcliffe’s performance. While not Oscar-worthy, he turned in a believable, thrill-inducing performance that was perfect for the role and the movie. In other words, he knocked this one out of the park.

Unfortunately, though, the movie did not. Even with the cinematography and acting, “The Woman in Black” fell short. Parts of the lore of the Woman in Black didn’t quite fit, and the climax was just, well, anticlimactic. The movie left a feeling of emptiness, as if something was missing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, though.

“The Woman in Black” was a decent horror movie. By horror-movie standards, it was actually quite good, with excellent cinematography. Unfortunately, little attention will be paid to the technical aspects of the movie. Even with its phenomenally creepy trailer, the movie’s core audience will surely be Harry Potter fans trying to recapture the magic. Every article, including, it seems, this one, will focus on Daniel Radcliffe’s post-Potter career instead of the merits of the movie. “The Woman in Black” herself will be haunted by an even more frightening spirit—that of Harry Potter.