Dark Water (2002)

Date Of Release: 19^th January 2002

Director: Hideo Nakata

Producer: Taka Ichise

Starring: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Fumiyo Kominata

Running Time: 101 minutes

Distributor: Tomo Company LTD
 

Review
 

This is a drama horror from the director of RING and RING 2. It was based on a short story written by Koji Susuki called “Floating water”. It is quite a simple plot line, a divorce and her young child move into a new apartment to start a new life for themselves. After a while, weird damp spots start appearing on the ceiling. As she investigates further, she unfolds a sad tale that will affect their lives.

This is another brilliant Asian horror; the simplicity of the film almost makes you forget that it is actually a horror. There are no over the top CGI effects or over acting. Everything is as simple as it can get (think of how the original ring looked). There is also not a lot of music used, which you think would not set the atmosphere but it actually works. They are only used at the pivotal scenes. the overall look of this film is quite dark with highlighting to show off the “nicer” parts of the story.

 

I love the look of the main antagonist in the film. Again, she is not overdone by special effects or doing the whole “little girl with the long hair in face” thing. She is simply a spirit, known by her yellow rain coat. She is not intentionally evil, just driven by a desire to not be lonely. That is what really drives this film, essentially the lack and longing of a mothers love and sacrifice. The best scene of the film being the last one (don’t worry, I won’t give it away!). There aren’t too many great scenes but the film runs together pretty smoothly to not really need one.

Not the scariest film you will ever come across but it does have a slight chill factor to it. It is just a simple, straight forward tale that will leave an imprint on you. Some may find it a tad boring but if you are a big fan of the Asian horror genre then you will love this.

 

Rating: 8/10 – This film will certainly not leave you in (dark) water!