Dark Water

What isnt haunted in Japan? I’d rather drink a Japanese ghost puddle than endure that final bit again. Would ghosts get filtered in the kidneys or would I pee a ghost? Everyone back off this idea is MINE.

Hauntingly beautiful and chilling ghost story.

The most effective of the J-horror films, simply because it has a narrative that is tighter than the rest (brevity!) and morality to underlie its brooding.

The horror a child feels a rainy day after playschool when everyones getting picked up by their parents, the fear of that no one is coming for you, is the main feeling of horror in Dark Water. But also the single mothers shameful fear of not being able to handle adulthood on her own with all the confusing tings happening around them. Hideo Nakata literally drowns his charaters in fear and nervousness, starting with a small leak in the roof of their apartment and ending with a dirty flood.

Dark Water could be called a supernatural drama as much as a horror movie. It's very much a part of the international trend in the late 90s and early 00s of this particular kind of slow burn atmospheric ghost story with Japanese movies like Ring and The Grudge getting Hollywood remakes alongside similar American movies like The Sixth Sense and What Lies Beneath. Quiet tension over outright terror. If you like any of those titles you'll enjoy Dark Water.

Resembles more a drama, where disturbing part gradually creeps in, drop by drop. I don't often enjoy horror, and it's hard to say if I liked this film either, but it certainly made an impression, and it'd be easy to point out some weight behind the scary moments.

A classic build-up Horror movie. Dark Water managed to be scary without expensive gore-effects or overused CGI. Brilliant, just brilliant!

Água Negra estreava há 20 anos no Festival de Stockholm. Nunca tinha visto esse, vi o remake do Walter Salles que foi tão irrelevante pra mim que sequer me lembro se vi no cinema ou em casa. Enfim, gostei mais do extra do DVD com o diretor falando sobre sua carreira por meia hora do que do filme em si, simplesmente não consigo me conectar com estórias modernas de fantasmas, nisso prefiro o cinema japonês old school. Box Versátil Obras-primas do Terror Horror Japonês Volume 2.

+atmosphere

A delicate balance of supernatural scares with the horrors of every day mundanity powers effectively creepy and unsettling film; Nakata builds moments of considerable “catch and release” tension throughout, and is well served by Kuroki, who commits to an impressive display of brittle fragility. A shame that a little more time could not have been taken to flesh out some of the other threads/threats – the finale seems somewhat arbitrary, because the reason for Kuroki’s actions are a bit obscure.

Epilogue scared the shit out of me.

Fabulous performances by Kuroki & Kanno. Ominous images, elaborate framing, good rhythm. Maybe not as terrifying as some audiences would like, more than makes up for it with its compelling human drama. Not just creepy, but sad as well. Frankly, the very real fears (real-life stuff) are as nightmarish as the supernatural. One of the finest from J-horror. Compare to 2007 version? More psychological horror, USA more blood & jumps. I liked both. Tho, as a fan of j-horror, this is the "win".

Disappointing after almost two decades of hearing how terrifying this was supposed to be. The ending alone is responsible for docking ten points off the score.

Makers of the horror film "Ringu" have done another superb work. This is how horror films must be done. Beside visual frightening moments there is plenty of hair-raising sounds.

I'm normally not a fan of Nakata and Suzuki and how they approach fantastical elements, but Dark Water is filled with real human characters talking about the horror of being a child of a divorce. Dark Water is a surprisingly touching and dramatic in this regard, able to balance the scares with a melodrama pretty well, and while the movie never gets too scary, I was pretty tense and making up scares I thought were going to happen. So pretty effective.

Tragic, creepy and well made.

Water, H2O, the essence of life, that's the source of horror this time around and it largely works. The sound cues are a detriment and any time it goes quiet the film improves. There are a couple of effective scare moments, the big climactic scare in the elevator is quite good and the mother/daughter performances are pretty strong as well. A rather weak 10-years-later epilogue ends the film on a sour note.

Surprisingly effective despite the mundanity. Not much in terms of jump scares or outright horror; it mostly takes place in that Rosemary's Baby realm of suspension + See, Maybe The Protagonist Is Just Crazy. I liked the cliched ending, though maybe I was influenced by the sudden appearance of an actor from Nodame Cantabile. 40th film of 2018.

By now, anyone even slightly familiar with J-horror will be quite accustomed to the string of plot devices (and their sound cues) presented here. Hitomi Kuroki's performance doesn't help. However, the story carries enough emotional weight that it's worth a watch.

Scary stuff...

su tesisati, apartman, anne-kiz, yardim isteyen ruh, bogulmak, bosanma

The ending suuuuuuuuuucks.

Cliche and boring.

The cinematography is just about the only thing that saves it. It's atmospheric but becomes increasingly ridiculous with each passing minute. I don't regret watching it, but I was definitely hoping for something a little more mysterious and spooky. The last ten or so minutes suck.

A great percent of the time was spent in remembrance of how excellent The Hole was shaping up to be until my copy (now discontinued completely, along with almost everything from Ming-liang Tsai :| ) crapped out on me. Separating that distraction, it's an effectively chilling experience that has enough craft behind it to actually build to the horror. The ending ranges on perfunctory, but the chills still came. Worth it.

The most scary film of all time.

So claustrophobic and well-thought. I love the tempo and it's just so scary that it hurts. Will never see it again, though, so I've got a dvd for sale!

decent remake

Above average horror film that ends on a horrible note like so many japanese horror films seem to. They have an awesome build-up and then it seems like they don't know where to take it. All in all not bad.

only really scary if you have a fear of damp or bags.

One of the new wave of Asian--and specifically Japanese--Horror, it takes a ghost story and makes it a slow burn, cerebral build-up, letting the spooky situations and visuals come to you over time. I appreciate the subtleties at work here and in others.

This was my first "kinda date" with my future wife. Sadly, the movie was not the best. And I'm not sure I really cared for the ending.....

Not bad at all (probably one of the best horror). Scary, though. The plot was quite good. And I found it much scarier and way BETTER than Ringu. But the very ending should've been better. It was rather un-climactic

Kun den danske "Kollegiet" er kedeligere..

A movie that is somewhat creepy, but goes absolutely nowhere. The ending is one of the most anti-climactic that I've ever seen.

The creepiest film based on a leaky ceiling that you are ever likely to see.

A rather dull film that blue balls you as it seems to be building up to a climax that never comes.

Loved the Japaneses version

Very Good Japanese horror with a horrid US remake