Dark Water (2002)

A truly memorable film, which succeeds not so much as a literal ghost story as an aching depiction of struggle, heartache, loneliness and loss.In some respects, the film might come across as pretty formulaic stuff, with generally predictable scares, a sometimes dubious script, and generic horror-film score (although there are also effective uses of background silence). Having said this, though, I should also add that the climax in the lift is genuinely shocking and heartrending. But what matters even more than the supernatural thrills is the all-too human story of the characters, the bleak atmosphere created, and the haunting imagery. All these elements the film pulls off remarkably well.The acting is pretty good. Admittedly, at first the mother appeared rather too high-strung to me, but that really is the kind of character she's meant to be. And the mother-child team is superb - there's real chemistry between the two.Dark Water is a notable accomplishment. It does often look like a formulaic supernatural thriller yet it transcends tired old clichés and conventions to be so much more; it manages to be consummately chilling, desolate, and poignant, all at the same time. As a work of art, and in terms of provoking genuine emotion, it succeeds (at any rate I found myself crying openly at the end, and I can honestly say I don't usually cry at films). Dark Water is arguably the best of the whole raft of Asian-horror films of the past two decades. At its core, it is a subtle, moving, and highly intelligent film, the like of which I've rarely seen, whether in the supernaturalist genre or out of it. A treat..

A divorced mother wins custody of her young daughter after a bitter court battle. Together they move into a rundown apartment complex where the apartment is dirt cheap but soon after moving in, they begin to find the unit plagued by water damage. Not just that, but a red child's bag begins to appear in strange places, even after being disposed of. The mother, who is beginning to fear for her sanity after her tough childhood, discovers that the bag belonged to & is the sign of a young girl who has lived in the apartment above them & who disappeared several years ago.Ever since he hit paydirt with RING, director Hideo Nakata has gone on to make several films in both his native Japan & in Hollywood. For years, fans had been waiting for him to return to the horror genre & make another classic, a wish that Nakata had proved too tempted to avoid.Unlike the majority of horror fans, I was one of the few that didn't think that Ring was any sort of classic. Sure it had a couple of great jump moments (particularly that scene with Sadako climbing out of the TV), but it was a hideously overrated supernatural mystery film that had a plot that was obtuse at times & never made any particular sense (not to mention an internal logic that was twisted like a pretzel). However, it did have some interest & the remake was considerably better.With Dark Water, Nakata tried to do another Ring, only with a red child's bag & a flood of water standing for a videotape. Most of Nakata's fans & even some critics who had mixed feelings about Ring were impressed with Dark Water but I wasn't one of them. To be honest, the plot belongs more in a drama film than a straight horror film. Not just that, but Nakata's skill as a filmmaker isn't entirely consistent – his style was crude with Ring, but when it came to making Ring 2, he had improved somewhat. Here, however, his skill deserted him. There are no jump shocks & Nakata's constant use of the red bag's ghostly appearances was a poor attempt at providing tension.When it came to the ending, Nakata does the same sort of foolish mistake that M. Night Shyamalan did for his films & throws in an end twist that makes no sense whatsoever. I'll explain the following – the girl fell into the water tower & drowned (something that went unnoticed by anyone else despite the girl living in the building & which was never investigated) & haunted the building ever since. Her apartment's kitchen taps were turned on & left on for at least six months, resulting in the apartment being flooded (how on Earth does an apartment become flooded without anyone noticing for six months? Doesn't make sense to me either), which resulted in the water damage to the heroine's apartment. Not just that, but the ghost's red bag keeps reappearing in places despite being dropped into the water originally by the girl herself. And how does the drinking water (which came from the water tower the girl fell into) become dirty without most of the people living there noticing it. I mean, hair shows up in some of the taps, for crying out aloud! But in the ending, the ghost forces the mother to abandon her daughter & join her in the afterlife for no reason. Really stupid if you ask me.Having said that, the day-to-day drama the mother & daughter living in the apartment go through is okay, although strictly routine. Not just that, the acting is reasonable & has some interest in it (Rio Kanno makes for one cute kid & who would make a good actress when she grows up). The epilogue that follows the mediocre ending compensates somewhat for the weakness of the rest of the film's story but doesn't elevate what is an otherwise unexceptional film.

When I began watching "Dark Water" I was surprised to see that the film was dubbed into English. In recent years, dubbing has nearly died out and subtitles have reigned supreme, so I was surprised. However much I dislike dubbing, however, the quality of this dub was actually pretty good.The story begins with a mother and her young daughter going through a divorce. Her husband is fighting her for custody, so the woman feels a lot of pressure to get a job and an apartment. While she is able to do both, the pressure only gets worse as the apartment building appears to be haunted by the spirit of some creepy child. And, thought the course of the film, this creepy kid seems to be calling out to the mother and her girl. What's next? See the film.While many of the story elements are very familiar if you've seen more than a few Japanese horror films, they are assembled quite well. Plus, most importantly, the mood is excellent--with creepy music and effective direction and editing to create the proper mood. Well worth seeing.

I did seen the remake before this and I did re-watch this few days before this movie as I thought I had not seen the remake before but then it hit, that I did see the remake before and It was very get able There was not much different from the remake at all, it did have some better and some bit more creepy feel to the remake/ Maybe I soon have not seen too soon after the remake, I was really bored by it, I watched it's all way thought.This didn't seem the same impact on me as other J-horror movies, I loved Ringu, ju-on and One missed called series. There were one or teo creepy moment that really stand out this movie nothing really that memorable.A liked the ending in this movie a lot better then remake cause here easy to understand. 4 out of 10