Dark Water (2002) April 8, 2008
Posted by Cal in : Horror, Supernatural, 2000s films , trackbackDirector: Hideo Nakata Cast: Hitomi Kuroki; Rio Kanno; Shigemitsu Ogi Territory: Japan Production Company: Honogurai mizu no soko kara
A bitter custody battle is being fought by Yoshimi (Hitomi Kuroki) against her husband for their six year old daughter Ikuko (Rio Kanno). Her ex-husband is playing dirty, using tales of Yoshimi’s previous psychological problems to discredit her. Rattled, Yoshimi rents a new apartment for herself and Ikuko and tries to get her life back on track with a new job. But the apartment is old and the ceiling leaks – not to mention noisy, as a child’s footsteps can often be heard from the room above. Yoshimi starts to feel uneasy when a girl’s red bag is found and can’t seem to be thrown away, and then she starts seeing a small child upstairs matching the description of a missing girl…
From the director of Ring, which was probably most casual viewers’ first exposure to Asian horror films, Dark Water continues in a similar spooky style which seems to be everywhere nowadays.
Shunning special effects and gore, the film instead relies on making the mundane seem menacing through implication, music and reaction shots. Which, let’s face it, could easily fall flat on its arse. Dark Water doesn’t quite fall on its arse, but after seeing it I’m not entirely sure why. The imagery seems a little over-used – creepy silent kids and things seen out of the corner of the eye being the order of the day. The red bag that continually turns up to alarm Yoshimi could seem laughable if not handled properly, as can the mounting menace of a water stain on the ceiling. But, to give the film its due, it never does, and a decent sense of quiet menace continues nicely throughout the film.
It’s just that the whole mystery of the film is rather easy to figure out, and by about the halfway mark, you’re well ahead of the game. This is the film’s most disappointing quality, as it is a very watchable experience. The film is very ably acted, and particular mention must go to the performance of Rio Kanno as the six year old Ikuko who spent the majority of the film soaking wet, which couldn’t have been too pleasant.
Although Dark Water is a pleasantly creepy way to pass the time, I really don’t think it has the legs to stand up to repeated viewings. But if you’ve never seen it, it’s well worth the price of the rental.
Comments»
Dark Water contains one of the most empty apartment complexes in a busy Japanese city. I think with the lack of privacy in much of the larger Japanese cities, films like this as well as several scenes in Juon (and others; an import of Juon was my first foray into J-Horror then I finally saw Ringu), play well on the Japanese psyche of being alone (not something that bothers me since I grew up on a farm
).
This film is definitely one of the easier films to get non-horror fans into (as opposed to something by Takashi Miike) and is a quiet effective and graceful film. Gore fans must look elsewhere though.
What do you think are the must watches of Japanese horror?
Well, Shawn, in my review I skirt around the issue of J-Horror for the simple reason that I’m not THAT familiar with the subject. I’ve not even seen Ju-On, but I have seen The Grudge or “the one with Buffy in” as a friend insists on calling it! I couldn’t help but be reminded of The Grudge when I watched this, to be honest, with the “spooky kid” angle and so forth. I’ve seen RINGU of course and its sequel and prequel. I enjoyed the first and third films but it’s now been so long since I’ve seen them - I really WILL have to rewatch them again soon. As for Takashi Miike, I have limited knowledge of his films but one of the few films I absolutely hated was AUDITION - that REALLY sickened me. Having said that, I thought HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS was quite fun and will probably be watching it again in a couple of months’ time. Watch this space. If you have any recommendations on J-Horror, do let me have them as I’m always on the lookout for a good horror film. As long as it’s not like AUDITION…
I was more into horror several years back, got bored and went into many other genres (too many, but hey its fun) and now have a stack of Tartan Asian Extreme movies that have been unwatched
. I will slowly get back as I catch up on several “other” lists
If Audition annoyed you, I think you may hate Ichi the Killer (which is one of the more perverse films I have seen, there is some great scenes, but the misygony is quite evident).
Ju-on is probably the next one you should watch. It’s influence is quite large and better than the American film (funny that its the same director, but hey The Vanishing had the same issue, I have not seen that remake though). When getting Ju-on get the first movie, there are two shorts (V releases that are even on the special edition of the Grudge release R1) that are good, but the first movie is excellent in its use of sound, mood, mise-en-scene etc…
I’m seen a lot of mediocre J-Horror (like Suicide Club though that has some interesting scenes), so I’ll think about any good ones, or if I watch a good one I’ll write you.
From what I read above the US remake isn’t that far removed in approach - it relied on an older fashioned sense of atmosphere and scares that I kind of warmed to (Jennifer Connelly is another aspect of that movie I kind of warmed to, or at least would like to…) though I did sort of feel perhaps it wouldn’t stand up to repeated viewing and so I haven’t seen it since its cinema release. I always feel slightly tempted though, I’ll probably succumb one day and just buy the damn thing.