Film Reviews

Dark Water

• Rating:
• Director: Walter Salles.
• Starring: Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth, Dougray Scott.
• Details: US / 105 mins (15A).

The latest Japanese horror to get a Hollywood makeover, Dark Water is something of a damp squib. When her separation from her husband descends into a bitter custody battle for their daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade), Dahlia Williams (Connelly) thinks she has enough on her plate - until her seedy new apartment appears to come alive, making mysterious noises and persistently leaking dark water. Is the waking nightmare caused by a subconscious response to her stressful life, or are the endless mind games the work of something far more sinister? Based on the Japanese film directed by Hideo Nakata, Honogurai mizu no soko kara, Dark Water suffers a similar fate to The Ring and Ring Two in that it loses quite a lot in the translation. Despite the strong cast, the story is neither involving enough to work as a psychological melodrama nor scary enough to be an effective horror. Director Walter Salles (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries) imposes striking visuals, and the film certainly looks as if it should be spooktastic, but once you scratch the impressive surface there's little by way of credible plot. Connelly puts in a good performance and gets solid back-up from solid character actors Reilly and Roth, but time and again they're swamped by a rising tide of horror cliches.

Review by Declan Burke