Dark Water

What Dark Water lacks in thrills, it does make up for in mood and wonderful performances, especially from Jennifer Connelly as the stressed out single mother trying to keep her wits about her after learning her apartment is haunted by a child's ghost. Expect less of a horror film and more of a drama and you'll be in the right headspace.

This is not a "child talks to dead people" movie. You should rejoice. It's not a "woman fights supernatural forces" thriller. You should get down on your knees and thank the powers that be. This is not "just an unnecessary re-make of the Japanese original". It's better.

Nakata is famous for taking the long view of his characters. Keeping us safe emotionally from them in order to bring the horror to life. Salles trumps him by pulling us right into Dahlia's arms where her fear, paranoia, and despair are absolutely palpable.

This is the story of a single mother trying to survive after a nasty divorce. Trying to hold onto her daughter so she can overcome her own history of abandonment. The ghosts (whether real or imagined) are peripheral to her dilemma.

The American Dark Water, gives us the same foreboding leak, the same bleak horrific photography, the same basic plot line, and yet by taking the emphasis off the ghosts reaches a much stronger emotional resonance.

Highly recommended for those that submit themselves to movies, rather than submit movies to themselves. You know who you are.

This is a Remake of the 2002 Japanese Horror Movie. The plot is pretty simple , a mother who is fighting custody over her daughter moves with her to a new apartment. The people in the building are strange, there's are leakage in their room and her daughter finds an imaginary friend soon....

The good aspects of the film is that it doesn't have any CGI ghosts or any evil looking spirits and yet it has an creepy feeling throughout. It is slow moving yet engaging. We have real middle class people with real problems which gives it more of a human drama than a typical horror stuff. Performances are good . There's more emotional connect than scary scenes. However the film could have been short, some scenes are absolutely no need especially the dream sequences are very unnecessary. There's not much to complain about ....it not an awesome film but it's pretty good for what it is and what it tries to be and is definitely an underrated horror drama .... Definitely worth a watch...

Dark Water is another one of those slow PG-13, atmospheric and creepy ghost stories in the vein of The Ring and the Grudge, and like those two, it is worthwhile.

The film certainly has flaws, but it is also clever and has some great drama. Jennifer Connely also gives a strong performance, and the film as a whole is probably slower than someone would think. While it is not as scary as The Ring or The Grudge, it is in a way more mature than those two because it does excel in genres other than as a thriller. Overall, it was not amazing, but certainly underrated at this time and certainly worth it.

After separation her husband (Dougray Scott) and taking custody her daughter (Ariel) , Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly , though Jennifer Love Hewitt turned down this role) attempts to do a new start . The apartment she moves alongside her daughter seems perfect at first . Dahlia carries her daughter to nearly school where the teacher (Camyn Manheim) teaches her and she , subsequently , hires a lawyer (Tim Roth) for the divorce . Soon , though , weird things start happening into house . Huge water stains appear on the ceiling and drip constantly , more water and oozing liquid into the rooms everyday . She calls the doorkeeper (Pete Postlehwaite) and the landlord (John C. Reilly) but they refuse to make anything about it . A child's red bag shows up in odd places and soon the child herself starts appearing and causing usual poltergeists phenomenon recreated with high grade special effects . Dahlia then discovers the origin of the specter .

This new version of Hideo Nakata film is plenty of screams , fear , suspense , thriller and results to be quite entertaining . The terror moments are delivered compactly and quietly with no fuss . The script copies exactly the Japan original movie without surprises . While the look is suitable atmospheric and eerie , the plot stretches plausibility to the breaking point . Nice acting by Jennifer Connelly , she turned down the role of Paige in ¨House of wax¨ (2005) , another horror remake , in order to appear in this one . Colorful cinematography by Alfonso Beato , usual cameraman of Salles , and creepy musical score fitting to horror movie by Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks) . The motion picture was well realized by Walter Salles , in spite of little originality . Salles is the number one producer (City of God , Lower city) and director (Motorcycle diaries , Central Station , Behind the sun) from Brasil and recently making an American career . The flick will appeal to terror cinema buffs, well worth seeing.