Hideo Nakata's DARK WATER (director of RINGU)
 

Hey aussie film fans with cable connection. A heads up to tell you that on Sunday August 17th"World Movies" is playing DARK WATER the latest film from Hideo Nakata Director of RINGU. Its a Japanese Horror about a puddle of Dark Water. Reviews have been positive and I am definetly going to check it out.

Also on Wednesday 27th of August they are screening the spanish chiller FAUST 5.0 (8/10)that I really enjoyed. Its a very visual experience with great cinematography and eerie atmosphere, based on the "Goyer" classic this is one engrossing yarn.

ST JOHN'S WORT (8/10) is also floating around on the channel which is IMO an underdiscussed Japanese horror delight. Oh, and AUDITION is also screening this month for those who haven't seen it.


For those who have seen DARK WATER please feel free to rate the film and wet my appetite even more. If youve seen FAUST 5.0 I would love to here everyones opinion.

For the rest CHECK EM OUT.........

Dark Water by Hideo
 

*** WARNING : POST CONTAINS SYNOPSIS OF FILM *** (BUT NO MAJOR PLOT TWISTS REVEALED)


For those who have seen DARK WATER please feel free to rate the film and wet my appetite even more. If youve seen FAUST 5.0 I would love to here everyones opinion.

For the rest CHECK EM OUT.........[/quote]


Hi. I've recently seen Dark Water. I'm a huge fan of Nakata's previous works, especially The Ring and to a lesser extent, Ring 2. Dark Water marks a very welcome return for Nakata to familiar territory. The premise for the film is quite simple. A recently divorced mother is locked in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband over their 6-year old daughter. She is given temporary custody of the girl, pending a full court hearing. In the meantime, she moves into a rather dark, menacing and creaky old apartment block. Meanwhile, she is struggling to make ends meet trying to find a job. We find out that her mother was not the best mother a child could have had and she was left emotionally scarred as a result of her mother's constant neglect. Nevertheless she is determined above all to be a good mother. Amidst all the uncertainty over the future of her daughter and the emotional turmoil, the apartment where she lives starts leaking dark and soiled water from the ceiling, and the damp puddle on the ceiling grows ever more menacing and life-like. The apartment manager is unsympathetic to her concerns and refuses to take action. As if that wasn't enough, both she and her daughter start to see a mysterious little girl in a yellow-hooded raincoat.......
The movie is based on a story by Koji Suzuki who was also responsible for the Ring. There are many parallels between the two movies in terms of the protagonists (single mother battling to save her child against a long-haired evil entity which uses water as a medium), cinematic mood (dramatic, tense and permeated by dread throughout) and setting (everything is dark, bleak and wet). The performances of the mother and especially the daughter are very impressive and both convey the sense of desperation and emotional upheaval they're experiencing very well. As with the Ring, a lot of the terror and horrror are implied rather than seen, and Nakata uses the film's dark and dread-filled setting to good effect. The juxtapositioning of the mother's emotional upheaval with that of her struggles against supernatural forces is extremely well done and Nakata deserves credit for creating a horror film against the backdrop of issues such as maternal love and sacrifice, feelings of guilt, alienation and desperation.
Inevitably, comparisons will be made with The Ring. This is unfortunate since The Ring marked Nakata's entry to the horror genre and established his trademark dramatic and visual style. Both elements are in abundance in this film and as such, to some viewers, Dark Water may seem derivative and cliched. Its impact will also not be as significant as The Ring's. But judged on its own merits, it is an extremely competent, accomplished, well directed and well acted horror film which will add to Nakata's growing list of impressive films.

Rating : **** out of *****

The_Rebel

Thanx buddy, Im salivating now, at the least there should be some good scenes and at the most we could have another scorcher Japanese horrror that can be mentioned in the same breath as Takeshi Miike's work (VISTOR Q, ICHI: THE KILLER, AUDITION etc) or EVIL DEAD TRAP and FREEZE ME