Recent Reviews
DVD Review: Dark Water
By HammerFanatic
Jan 4, 2006, 10:36

Dark Water tells the story of a recently divorced woman, Dahlia Williams (Jennifer Connelly), who has moved into a dilapidated building with her young daughter, Ceci (Ariel Gade). Dahlia's state of mind at times seems fragile and ready to break. She's battling her ex-husband (Dougray Scott) for custody of their daughter and he seems quick to make accusations that Dahlia is, 'crazy', 'insane' and 'inhabiting a world of her own'. One certainly couldn't blame Dahlia for being a little bit or all of those accusations...she appears to be totally on her own with nobody close to turn to in her crumbling world. The apartment she and Ceci are now living in is owned by a landlord (John C. Reilly) who constantly passes the buck on all problems, a building superintendent (Pete Postlethwaite) that is gruff and uncaring and not only does the apartment have constant weird noises, but a constant drip/leak of.....dark water. Ceci it seems has a new imaginary friend and Dahlia is struggling to have anyone take her water leak problems serious. Finally, a lawyer (Tim Roth) Dahlia hires does appear to see her side of things and works at helping her clear up the issues, but are there forces at work beyond what any of the participants can deal with?

This is another film that relies more on the subtle aspects of horror than anything being slammed in your face or crammed down your throat. More emphasis is placed on character development and the actions and interactions of the characters than building any real feeling if suspense or horror. The acting in this film is really top-notch, the cast brings a real sense of believability to the characters, but overall, the film falls flat for me. Now, I don't need a constant ride of extreme gore or in-your-face scares, but this film tends to be so low-key, I never had a sense of dread at what might happen, next....it simply didn't keep me on the edge of my seat and at the least, that's what I was hoping for. I haven't seen the original film this U.S. version was based upon, but I would be curious to see if that film holds any more suspense or thrills.With the recent success of Japanese films being made for U.S. audiences, you might have high expecations for this film, but while Dark Water seems to be headed in a direction for a big payoff at the end, it basically ends and you feel somewhat cheated and letdown in the final minutes. What might have been a great little film, simply falls short and this viewer is left unsatisfied and disappointed.

Buy the Original Japanese version of Dark Water on DVD at Amazon.com