Quickie Movie Review: Dark Water

[Steve Miller]

Dark Water
Two out of Five Stars

Jennifer Connelly stars as a woman whose troubled past comes roaring back at her as her divorce turns nasty. Things only get worse when she moves to a new apartment with her five year-old daughter... in a building where mildly unsettling things keep happening and strange plumbing problems occur. When the daughter gets an imaginary friend, things start getting really bad.

I walked into the film knowing nothing more than it was a horror movie and that it probably involved water. Barely twenty minutes in, I knew pretty much everything that was going to happen, thanks to foreshadowing so heavy-handed that I'm surprised the projector could support its weight and a storyline that not once deviated from a paint-by-numbers ghost movie plot. Sure, there were some half-hearted attempts at misdirection, but they were too little and too late and too disconnected from some of the events that had already occurred to work. The end result is that unless this is the first ghost movie (hell, the first ghost story) you've ever encountered, you're going to spend much of the movie wishing they'd get on with it.

If the goal was to produce a ghost story that plods through all the expected standards step by step, the creators succeded. I kept HOPING that they'd take an unexpected turn somewhere, but they never did. The only decent thing about the film is that all the performances were appropriately understated.

My bottom line: Save your time and money.

[Gemathustra]

What a scalding review.
Ouch, even.
So, would it be a better choice to find/rent a copy of the original Japanese movie?

[Steve Miller]

I haven't seen the Japanese version, but if the American remake is close to the original, I wouldn't bother.

[alhoon]

I don't have a problem with the traditional ghost stories. And generaly if a movie doesn't have surprises, I don't care. However, I wouldn't spend money on the movie yet, but I'd rent it as a DVD when I can.

I just hope it is better than Gothica.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

The orginal wasn't brilliant (I gave is 6 out of 10 in most reviews), it mostly made money on the hype that it was by the same team that brought Ring together.

I can say that I am presently quite pleased to hear that the Hollywood remake of The Eye has been cancelled for the time being

[AdamGarou]

Has anyone noticed that most "re-makes" are touted as simply updating the original to current times, but tend to fall flat when compared to the original?

I don't know if it's true in all cases, but it seems like most of the remakes I've seen are only okay if I haven't seen the original. And it doesn't always matter if the original version was by-and-large a great big pile of elephant excrement--the original is almost always better, despite the leaps that have been made in technology between then and now.

Like, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13--I haven't seen the original, so the remake (with Ethan Hawke, Brian Dennehy, Laurence Fishburne, and Drea De Matteo) wasn't bad. The acting was kind of wooden in places, but Fishburne almost saved it. However, I have seen the original version of DAWN OF THE DEAD, and I liked it better than the remake.

I guess there's just something about the quirkiness of the originals--how they managed to do more on obviously lower budgets, with fewer CGI effects, better acting, and better stories and character development. Agree or disagree?

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

I have yet to enjoy any remake of a Asian movie

The Dawn of the Dead remake was good, so long as you ignore a few odd bits, like the zombie baby that nearly had me fall off my seat laughing (I swear there were tears running down my face). Not seen the remake of Assault on Precinct 13, the original bored me enough. Rollerball was tedius, as was Oceans 11.

I did enjoy Savini's remake of Night of the Living Dead, it was a little different but still managed to stay somewhat true to the original, though the 30th Anniversary edition that came out in 98 blew it out of the water

[Brandi]

I have yet to enjoy any remake of a Asian movie

I actually thought Ring was okay. Ringu had better visuals in places (that EYE), but also had odd bits that I'm not sure really would've translated, if that's the right word-- the idea that Sadako might be a water spirit probably doesn't have the implications to Americans that it might to Japanese.

[For an example of a horror film with a very culture-specific scare, find At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1963), the first of a trilogy of Brazilian horror films starring a character named Zé do Caixao (aka "Coffin Joe"). One of the examples of Joe's impiety and cruelty is forcing a man to eat meat on Friday-- a blasphemous and obnoxious act to the devout Catholics that made up a lot of the Brazilian audience, but probably just odd and quaint to American ones...]

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

The Ring bored me, I can say that in all honesty. I found it very young in intelligenge, perhaps it was aimed by 12 years old, I don't know.

However, if you have read the books, you will also comment that those in turn are very different to the movies. Sadako does not appear in the first book (or at least you do not see her), she only appears for the first time in the second and then in not how you might expect her to, unless you have seen Rasen. The cursed video is also 20 minutes long in the book and they (there are only 2 in the books if I rememebr right) are destroyed quite early in Spiral. So how does the Ring Virus spread after that? Quite simple really, there is a rason why Hasagawa was male in the book and not a woman like in the movie

Bit I will agree on cultural/religious differences where pop culture is concerned. There was talk of a Chinese Ghost Story remake to be made in America, I am glad that project never took off, it really wouldn't have translated well at all

[Stygian Inquirer]

I can say that I am presently quite pleased to hear that the Hollywood remake of The Eye has been cancelled for the time being

YES!!!!!!!!! I love the original "The Eye" and would hate to see an American perversion of that film. I just love those Asian horror flicks and besides, I am not a big remake fan anyway.

[Reginald de Curry]

I did enjoy Savini's remake of Night of the Living Dead, it was a little different but still managed to stay somewhat true to the original, though the 30th Anniversary edition that came out in 98 blew it out of the water

Was that the one with "the Candyman" in it?

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Was that the one with "the Candyman" in it?

Yeah, Tony Todd was in the Savini version

[Ivana_Boritsi]

Rollerball was tedius, as was Oceans 11.

Say what? Ocean's 11? That's one of the best movies ever! So quotable. So quirk. So fun... Oh well. To each their own.

Movies that Improved upon the Original
Ocean's 11 definately improved upon the original. If you watch the original movie...it's painful. Painful. Apparently, most of the movie was shot while the rat pack was drunk or high. I'm sure that's mostly urban legend, but when you watch it, you could definately believe it.

Another movie that improved upon the original was The Thomas Crown Affair. The Pierce Brosnan verison is so fun and clever - with excellent dialogue.

Fistfull of Dollars was a remake of the movie "Yojimbo" by Kurosawa - and it was a damn good remake.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

The original Oceans 11 had entertainment value, it may not have been a brilliant movie but it was entertaining, the remake just bored me.

Fidtfull of Dollar was good, but Yojimbo was better I love the old Kurosawa movies but not had a chance to watch them for far to long.

To tell the truth, I am concerned about the King Kong remake after reading more about it.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

I'm sure that's mostly urban legend, but when you watch it, you could definately believe it.

It's not. The general routine was that they'd drink 'til dawn, pass out, stroll on to the set a little after noon, shoot each scene in one take, have a few drinks in between, then go party at the Copa. I have a quote here somewhere, let me see if I can find it...ah, here;

“We’re not setting out to make Hamlet or Gone with the Wind,” Frank asserted in the midst of shooting Ocean’s Eleven. “The idea is to hang out together, find fun with broads, and have a great time.”