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Dark Water Director: Hideo Nakata Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Dolby Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 100 minutes Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-06-21 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.0 "7/10. Reasonably well made, but generic" Again, I weary of trying to write a detailed, lengthy review. Fortunately, this film doesn't deserve one. 'Dark Water' is a capably assembled, but generic and unoriginal piece of Japanese horror. Those of you out there who may have seen the American version need to know you'll see something a bit different here. Though it's the same basic plot, this film is much more of a ghost story than the American version is, with less emphasis on the divorce, and the psychology of the main character. (It still does explore these more practical issues some, however.) Really, the remake is more original that the original is, approaching this material in a different way, but the Japanese version does what it does pretty well. (Ah, had to work in a comment to make everyone hate me. It's 100% true, however) 'Dark Water' is reasonably atmospheric, and has some very dreary visuals, largely due to the perpetual rain. It doesn't have a whole lot going on in terms of plot, but it doesn't really need to. That said, the film is pretty slow-moving, w/o a whole helluva lot happening for the first hour, but it's moody enough that I didn't ever get bored. Also, the characters are pretty flat and dull, not particularly sympathetic. And while the scare-tactics are pretty standard, (catching glimpses of the ghost in the distance, seeing her through a camera, lotsa stuff with water, naturally) they work fairly well. (With the exception of the repeated re-appearence of the dead girl's backpack, which is just kinda pointless) This film is actually reasonably scary at the climax, up until the final reveal, which is about as terrifying and professional as a third-rate Halloween costume. (And there is not an ounce of exaggeration in that description. It is literally that bad) This really hurts the scene, but it's a nicely done climax, overall. The denouemont is very well done too, though I can't describe it at all w/o giving the whole film away. This is the one aspect where this film is clearly superior to the American version, which belabors the point excessively, and attempts to salvage some happiness from the occurrence. Yeah, that's it. Nothing new, but not much is. "Infinitely superior to Hollywood version" Just watched this again (for third time) after watching the Hollywood remake. The original is not only scarier but much more emotionally devastating. It is a fascinating mixture of two genres: the horror film and woman's melodrama. The remake is not bad, all things considered, but the numerous changes made to the plot serve to attenuate both the horror and the melo-drama. This is clearest in the film's climax. What occurs simultaneously in the original -- the mother's discovery of what happened to the missing girl; the daughter's "meeting" with missing girl in her bathtub -- is turned into two separate incidents in the remake. So not only does the original resolve a major plot strand AND generate suspense at the same time (heightening the effectiveness of both), it then takes the material -- before we have had chance to catch our breath or assimilate all we've seen -- to a whole other emotional level with the finale in the elevator (and which ends with a perfectly realized symbolic image: the child awash in fluids, separated from the body that gave it life). This scene in the elevator, the payoff for all that came before, is simply eliminated from the remake! See the original. "Water water everywhere...." One has probably heard the expression, "water water everywhere." Well, that's the weather report of the Japan in Honogurai Mizu No Sokokara, or Dark Water. Dark Water was originally a collection of short stories written by Koji Suzuki, who exploded onto fame with The Ring. The first of those stories, "Floating Water," was adapted into a full-length feature in Japan, and was the second work of Suzuki adapted to the screen by Hideo Nakata. Yoshimi Matsubara is going through a rough patch in her life. She is involved in a custody battle with her ex-husband over her nearly six-year old daughter Ikuko, and is searching for a place to live. That they do, in a decrepit dingy seven story apartment complex. Encouraged by the friendly realtor, they move in to Room 305. Unfortunately, the apartment is old, the drinking water tastes bad, and water keeps seeping through the flat's roof. Kamiya, the elderly live-in apartment manager, makes a note of it in the log, but doesn't do a thing about it. The water-stained spot keeps growing until one time, while resting by her sleeping daughter in bed, she wakes up to find the whole bed and pillow sopping wet! Ikuko finds a red plastic handbag with a cute cartoon rabbit, Mimiko, up on the apartment roof. Instead of letting Ikuko keep it, Yoshimi has Kamiya put it in the lost and found box. There's something about cleanliness Yoshimi has, presumably her revulsion to something discarded-you know, who knows where it's been? However, it has a tendency of turning up in weird places, which begins to scare Yoshimi. And is Yoshimi seeing things, or was there a small girl in a yellow plastic raincoat on the fourth floor? And is there any relation to a girl from Ikuko's kindergarten who went missing two years ago? While Yoshimi tries to be a good single mother, things aren't easy between trying to get a job, getting off work late, and trying to pick up Ikuko from kindergarten. She has been a very sensitive woman, having been so affected at proofreading some graphic and sadistic novels that she'd undergone psychiatric treatment, that the custody hearings raises her stress level. Her ex, on the other hand, is a cold and calculating, but factual person, who doesn't seem too concerned with Ikuko as much as wanting to score a victory over Yoshimi. The custody battle itself is anything but peaceful. As Yoshimi's lawyer Kishida tells her, the mother has the advantage when the offspring is six years or younger, but things at the apartment, the red bag, and her husband's cunning tactics at revealing her mental health gets Yoshimi hysterical in full view of both her lawyer and her ex's lawyer, which helps damage her case. The film's noir ambience is partially due to the rain, which it does a lot of in this movie, but the darkly lit corridors and elevators of the apartment complex create an atmosphere suitable for psychological horror, for which the last half hour before the postscript is a whirlwind of suspense and scares. Hitomi Kuroki does well in portraying Yoshimi, who has the frightening ordeal of having to live alone, provide for her daughter, and balance things out, making one sympathize with the sensitive woman. And Rio Kanno (Ikuko) is a sweet daughter one roots for. This single mother-child pairing worked well in the previous Suzuki adaptation Ringu. Those who saw Ju-On (the original Grudge) will recognize Isao Yatsu (Kamiya) as Saito-san, the wheelchair-bound old man at the hospital who does the peekaboo game and silly noises. What Psycho did for showers, Dark Water does for baths and a sink, in a scene when Ikuko turns on the tap for a glass of water and shlup!-a lock of hair comes out of the tap, freaking out the poor girl. A well-done suspense story, equal parts custody drama, ghost story, and suspense thriller. Oh, and given what the Americans did to Ringu with their version, I'm not even gonna bother with the American Dark Water. Come on Hollywood, stop making rotten versions of great Japanese thrillers, fer cryin' out loud! "Dramatic Aspects Make Dark Water Float." Dark Water Dramatic Aspects Make Dark Water Float. By Nick Schwab Thinking Dark Water is: "just another brainless ghost film" before seeing it is a pre-misconception. Since, Dark Water is actually a horror film of the best kind, because the film also keeps its foot in that of character drama, and is attuned to human emotion, rather then cheap boo scares. The film starts out with a mother (Hitmoi Kuroki) being admist a custody battle for her daughter ( Rio Kanno.) She has her daughter for the time being, and while trying to prove that she's fit to be the caring mother, she then later moves into a high rise apartment, with her daughter. However, something spooky rests in the apartment, as well. They then must find out what is going on, as well as find out the truth of the dripping water from the ceiling, along with the mysterious purse that keeps showing up on the ground. Dark Water is a drama, with supernatural elements, and this gives the film the privilege of being one of the smartest recent films of its type. As, the film also has a well-done ending with an emotional verve of hard-hitting impact. When speaking of the mature themes and metaphors presented, Dark Water is a work of art, which thankfully pours through its standard horror film formula plot. But, the horror aspect sometimes works well, as there's some genially spooky scenes presented, while the drama aspects are pristine, and give the film plenty of high convoying emotion and also give viewer's affliction. The film addresses the themes of the past affecting the present, loss, divorce, motherhood, the importance of a parent, as well as fragility of young innocence. Much of these themes surround the character of a five year old girl, and the viewer then sees this film through that character's eyes, and in them we are scared for her, while at the same time we feel for her. The viewer also sees the mom and daughter relationship, and their inner and outer struggles for coping with the situations at hand, that shows the film to be three-dimensional. While furthermore, the film actually cares about its characters, and takes time with them, instead of just killing them off just to get a lame jolt from the audience. The film is well acted by the leads, and the photography gives the film a triste, but gorgeous washed out look. The beautiful directing by Hideo Nakata is subtle, hauntingly poetic, and visionary; and, this gives the film the makings of a classic horror film, in that respect. Though the spookfest does stumble sometimes, since some screws of its plot are handled a little familiar, yet the film is still an interesting dark study about family relationships, and has the odd quality of being rather happy in tone in a genre that is known for its nihilistic qualities. Grade- B+ "Suspenseful and Scary!" Now that the English version of the movie starring Jennifer Connelly is running in the theatres, I thought I would first see the original Japanese version before seeing the new one. After watching Hideo Nakata's "Dark Water", I was a little speechless by how good it was! Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki) has just moved into a new apartment with her daughter, six year old Ikuko (Rio Kanno). Yoshimi is just getting out a marriage and in constant fear of losing Ikuko to her husband. The apartment is close to Ikuko's school, the rent is low and they both like seem to like it. So they decide to take it. In the beginning everything seems ok. But strange things start happening in the building that Yoshimi cannot account for, such as: her daughter disappearing half the time, a pink handbag suddenly reappearing out of no where, the buttons in the elevator being burnt out, and most importantly, the constant leak that appears on their ceiling. Will Yoshimi be able to figure out what is going on in time to stop it or run away from it? This movie proves that you do not need to have a lot of gore, or zombie faces, or sudden noises to get scared when watching a horror movie. There is an eerie atmosphere in just the constant dripping of water in this film! Hideo Nakata did a great job in directing his movie as he did for "Ringu". Hitomi Kuroki did an average job in acting as Yoshimi, probably because she overacted too much. Her character became a little annoying, mainly because she overacted in most of the scenes. The kids did their job well though. The subtitles provide a good translation for this movie, but there are not that many special features for this DVD. All in all, if you like Japanese horror like The Grudge or The Ring, you will like this movie!