Search - Dark Water (Unrated Widescreen Edition) on DVD

Style over Substance

Megan Stoner | USA | 07/27/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Being unfamiliar with the work and adaptations of Hideo Nakata and Koji Suzuki, I went into "Dark Water" with no preconceptions about style, form, or subject matter, other than that this was a horror picture whose plot seemed to centre around water. A lot of it.

And it does. The drains really do matter, and poor Dahlia (played with a fierce quietness by Jennifer Connelly) and her darling little daughter Ceci (made so sweet it's creepy by astonishing newcomer Ariel Gade) learn this quickly enough when they are forced to relocate from "the City" to Roosevelt Island, a dreary industrial place that the sleazy but quick-on-his-feet management agent Mr. Murray describes as a "utopia" - ironically, without a hint of irony. Ceci, as all horror-movie children do, has a "bad feeling" about the place and is reluctant to move in, at first. Nobody could blame her: the lobby is run-down, flecked with mildew, and lit in shades of flickering fluorescent green that immediately inspire dread in the viewer, though not as much as the dour superintendent Veeck (played with creepy perfection by Peter Postlethwaite, who should patent roles like this), and not nearly so much as that festering muddy-brown water stain on the bedroom ceiling.

But Dahlia is separated from her husband, engaged in a nasty custody battle, and needs an affordable place to call home in order to keep her daughter. This apartment is definitely affordable, and Ceci has rather inexplicably decided she loves the place. So, in the time-honored tradition of horror-movie heroines, Dahlia goes against her better judgment and moves in.

Soon enough, Bad Things Happen. The water-spot grows. Is plastered over. Grows again. Water trickles into the capricious elevator, which sometimes goes to floors it shouldn't and stops when it likes, and drips through the floors. Faucets and toilets spout ominous rust-coloured streams in pristine public schools and Dahlia's own kitchen. The ubiquitous Imaginary Friend makes appearances, whispering in the night and telling little Ceci things neither one should know about her mother and her past. She even talks to Dahlia. And it rains. A lot.

Things continue to happen, and continue to get worse, but never all at once. Director Walter Salles prefers to build an atmosphere rather than scare us out of our seats with cheap thrills, and he proves very adept at inspiring first gloom, then dread, then horror, and finally anticipation as the payoff we know must come approaches.

Unfortunately, it is here that the film stumbles. The mood up until then has been evoked perfectly, although it takes longer than it ought to; nothing much happens but tension-building until the last fifteen minutes or so of the film, and then the climax we have been waiting for since Dahlia moved in is so predictable that it disappoints. However, the suspense is kept taut till the end and the mood never falters; if it is emotional resonance, rather than cheap scares, that you're looking for, this will suit the purpose nicely."

Mommy dearest

mikey mike | 01/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"-A very pretty woman splits from her husband and gets joint custody of her daughter. she moves into a dilapidated apartment that she plans on living in temporarily and for a while things seem to be going well but a leak that causes black water to seep into her bedroom causes problems for her. not to mention her daughter develops a friendship with an imaginary friend and after some haunting dreams and strange happenings around the apartment she finds out what's behind the black water realizes that she has to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to make everything right.

-The trailer and ads on TV made the movie out to seem like another idiotic PG-13 Japan horror remake and I can see why they did that because after all "The Grudge" blew up big time at the box office but the problem with that movie was that it sucked beyond belief which may have affected this movie too. this is more than just some silly idiotic wannabe scary movie, it's thoughtful, clever, well shot and acted and a great story on top of all that. If the studios had actually marketed the movie that way who knows then more people may have gone to see it but you can't really blame them for trying.

-I think people maybe initially disappointed with the movie because I know they'll probably expect a movie that has creepy long haired little girls that come out of TV's or whatever but that's not really what this movie is about. It does have moments of intense suspense but it never really gets scary or make you pee yourself a little. the movie never feels forced on contrive but just takes it's time and lets things unfold as it happens and really doesn't get creepy and disturbing till we've figured out all the pieces to the puzzle which is what Takashi Miike did with "Audition" and Roth did with "Hostel". This is one of the few movies in which I've actually seen the original as well as the remake and I like this one a bit more since the story is told a lot better here and isn't slightly confusing like it's Japanese counterpart. The one thing the Japanese version does do a lot better is with the music which was really unnerving in that one where as it's really quite in the remake

-I absolutely adore the little girl that plays Connolly's daughter in the movie, she so cute that you just feel like pinching her when you see her on the screen. her acting skills may not be the best in the world because I believe that the little girl that played Alessa's dark side in "Silent Hill" is the best child actor of all time but she is still adorable and I hope that someday when I have a kid they turn out that sweet. Much like Sarah Polley, Radha Mitchell, Miranda Otto and Eva Green, Jennifer Connolly is one of those women that I'll forever be biased towards when it comes to their movies. I don't care how crappy the movie that they're in is I'll still manage to find something about it that I like. I know I'm not the only person on the planet that has that biased since a lot of people love to throw perfect 10's at movies featuring their favorite actors or favorite directors. She is all right in the movie but the story really doesn't call on her to do much than be a mother and she does that pretty well. She doesn't have a single moment in the movie in which she'll make anyone realize why so many of us think she's such a great actress but she is pretty good in it.

-John C. Reilly has a small role in the movie as the man that owns the apartment and his character is a regular person. he's pretty much what you see is what you get because there is no deep nuisance or twist involving his character what so ever. he's just a man trying to make it in the world. the only character that has any amount of great mystery to him is the man that's suppose to be the janitor or something. I can't remember the name of the actor but there is a pretty nice twist involving his character and why he always seems so aloof.

-It may be a Japanese remake but it's not as stupid or as annoying as "The Grudge" and I hope more people give it a chance because it's really something special."