Horror Movie Review of Dark Water
| Tweet | |
|
|
I don't agree that Dark Water is The Ring retold, but I'm glad I waited for this horror movie on DVD.
Review by BHM Editor Don Sumner
May 2006
Release: 2005
Directed by: Walter Salles
Starring:
Jennifer Connelly as Dahlia
John C. Reilly as Mr. Murray
Tim Roth as Jeff Platzer
Ariel Gade as Ceci
At this point I have read several reviews of Dark Water and, I must say, I don't agree with the majority of them that characterize this horror movie as The Ring revisited. There are, however, some striking similarities between The Ring and Dark Water in a couple of areas.
First, the story. Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) is a troubled woman, frequently having flash-backs of her life as a small girl. Dahlia's mother, it seems, was not the most "loving" woman. Mommy Dearest was frequently drunk and often left poor little Dahlia waiting in the rain to picked up from school. This abandonment theme becomes paramount to the development of our story.
Fast forward to Dahlia as an adult with a child of her own, little Ceci. Dahlia and Ceci need to find a new place to live because Dahlia's husband grew weary of dealing with Dahlia's regular psychotic breaks and filed for divorce.
Because of tight finances, Dahlia finds a cheap apartment in an unsavory neighborhood, on the "Lower Penthouse" level of a depressing concrete building. It is here in this building that the weirdness begins. Ceci finds a ghost friend we find out, the ghost of a little girl with a violent streak.
Kôji Suzuki in Japan wrote both Dark Water and The Ring, and it is clear that there are common themes of water, little girls and abandonment - as well as the tortured souls of deceased little ones wreaking havoc on the living. The stories are, however, very different in how they develop. If you watch Dark Water then go in with an open mind and be willing to forget the similarities
Dark Water benefits from exceptional acting by Jennifer Connelly and young Ariel Gade as Ceci. The cinematography is outstanding as the dismal grayness and stark camera angles convey hopelessness and depression. When I think back on the movie I have the feeling that I liked it, but at the time I watched it the length and slowness as well as it feeling a bit contrived prevented real enjoyment.
If you're alright with loads of unanswered questions, suspense that doesn't lead to much of a payoff, depressing images and amazing dream-sequences then rent this one...but you had better get something hilarious like Caddy Shack to top the evening off. It's a Cinderella Story... Questions or comments about Dark Water? Contact us!
Take me back to Horror Movie Reviews!
Horror Movie Freaks is the FREE eZine from Best-Horror-Movies.com that will give you the new horror releases, the new horror news and the new horror reviews that you CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT!!
Subscribing is easy, painless and free.
Do it NOW!!
