HARRY POTTER & THE CURSE OF THE CHILD STAR (THE WOMAN IN BLACK)

There comes a point in the careers of child stars where they face the million dollar question: Do they persist with an acting career or seek pastures new?

There have been many child stars who made the grade in adulthood - Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Roddy MacDowall in the classic Hollywood studio system. In later years, Jodie Foster, Christina Ricci, Leonardo di Caprio and Drew Barrymore have all eked out adult careers and River Phoenix showed lots of promise before his untimely end.

But there are lots of examples of careers that fizzled out when the hormones finally kicked in - among them Tatum O'Neal, Henry Thomas, Edward Furlong and notoriously Macaulay Culkin.

With seven hugely profitable Harry Potter films under his belt, Daniel Radcliffe has now reached that moment of truth.

To his credit, Radcliffe began preparing for his post-Potter career before the end of the franchise.

There was a rather iffy turn in the Australian orphans coming-of-age movie 'December Boys' and more successfully, a rather touching performance as Rudyard Kipling's son in ITV's First World War drama 'My Boy Jack' opposite David Haig, Kim Cattrall and Carey Mulligan.

And now he has returned to the big screen in the bleak horror tale 'The Woman in Black', directed by James Watkins and adapted from the acclaimed Susan Hill novel by Jane Goldman.

Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps, a turn of the 20th century lawyer who is struggling to come to terms with the tragic death of his wife while giving birth to their son.

Summoned into the office by his no nonsense and increasingly impatient boss Mr Bentley (Roger Allam), he is informed that while the law firm is sympathetic to his personal circumstances it is no longer prepared to make any more allowances for him.

He is asked to leave his son in London and head to Eel Marsh House in the Midlands to tend to the affairs of a recently deceased widow, Mrs Drablow.

During an arduous train journey, he meets an affable landowner Mr Daily (Ciaran Hinds) but when he arrives in the village he encounters hostility and resistance from the locals to the work he is doing.

It soon becomes clear that the villagers believe there is a curse in Eel Marsh House which has resulted in the deaths of several local children and they believe his presence will only add to the body count.

From the British Hammer Films stable, Watkins and Goldman have come up with an old school horror movie with a strong gothic feel and plenty of foreboding sound effects.

In an age of slobbering, blood splattered zombies and angst ridden vampires, there is something oddly comforting about this traditional approach and Watkins does a fine job in maintaining the pace and atmosphere in what is a tight and efficiently constructed film.

He is helped by some fine cinematography by Tim Maurice-Jones, smart film editing by Jon Harris and suitably eerie set decoration by Niamh Coulter as well as some strong sound effects - most notably in the sequences where Kipps decides to spend the night in Eel Marsh House.

There are some fine performances too. Ciaran Hinds is as reliable as ever, Janet McTeer impresses as his grieving wife, Mrs Daily who is occasionally possessed by the spirit of her dead son and Shaun Dooley has a decent run as Fisher, the angry landlord of the village inn who tragically lost his children.

However the success of the movie hinges on Daniel Radcliffe's ability to convince his audience that he can play a bewildered grieving father and he gives a good account of himself.

Certainly his performance as Kipps puts Keanu Reeves' rather lifeless performance as another lawyer, Jonathan Harker in 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' well and truly in the ha'penny place.

And in an industry where box office returns make the greatest impression, it will have done him no harm at all that 'The Woman in Black' has already outperformed Francis Coppola's 'Bram Stoker's Dracula', 'The Others', 'Shaun of the Dead' and '28 Days Later' at the domestic box office and generated over $50 million in returns in North America in just 25 days of release.

On the evidence of this outing, Daniel Radcliffe may indeed have a future on the big screen but he needs to choose his roles wisely. 

If he is prepared to stretch himself as an actor, he needs to know his limitations and be able to choose the right vehicle. The jury is still out but it is very much leaning towards him.