Dark Water

Touchstone Pictures/Buena Vista International

Dark Water marks the third time a Hollywood studio has remade a Japanese horror film, with The Ring and The Grudge doing wonders at the box office, who can blame 'em. The only person that is going to come away from Dark Water remotely happy is Jennifer Connolly. However judging from it's box office performance, even she wants to see the back of this horrendous film.

Dahlia (Jennifer Connolly) is having troubles sorting out the biff with her new ex-husband. Unable to afford her current residence, Dahlia adn her daughter relocates to a building a long way from the city and her ex-husband in Jersey. We find that the building is surrounding by several other depressed buildings, and the manager of Dahlia’s apartment is a freak. She lives in 9F, every night she hears noises coming from the unit above and has several leaks in the ceiling resulting from the constant rain.

Dark Water is an abomination of a film, thanks to director Walter Selles. What sort of film was he trying to make? He simply doesn’t have what it takes to be in this particular genre. Without a scare in sight, several plot holes, an incoherent script, unprecedented amount of back story and 17 different endings it was only a matter of time before you wanted this nightmare to end. Every time you thought the film found its footing, it quickly derails and losses the plot. However the film does have some merit. Notice the word 'some'. Jennifer Connolly's acting reins supreme even in the peaks of hell. She is able to elevate every scene, even though it is a complete load of shit. One of the countless endings, is quite original and bucks the trend of all the pathetic psychological horror films that have been released this year.

One thing that Dark Water proves is that arthouse directors do not belong in the horror world. Selles treats the film like one, putting more time into Daliah's psychological problems rather than the story or actual scares. While Dark Water is no White Noise, it surely is in the same class. What a disappointment!


out of ten

Reviewed by Dino White

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