Okay. Just like with Herbie, I saw Dark Water with about 400 people at a free screening. Why free? I am on a cruise, and there happens to be a movie theater on board, but that's another story.

So with about 400 people in the room with me, we all watch this movie. We sit there and we wait for something to happen. If it weren't for teenagers generating their own scares out of the crowd by screaming out at the "scary" parts, the crowd would've fallen asleep (It's now just after 12:30 here). Now mind you, this is a crowd filled with kids from infants (Yes, in a PG-13 film) to adults. None of them jumped at anything in the movie. Nothing. No babies crying, nothing. Simply put, if this movie didn't generate any scares from 400 people who saw the movie for free, how do you think it's going to play in front of 200 who paid $8 to see it.

I am not a fan of scary movies to say the least, but I do enjoy them. I love the Dead and Halloween series'. But it seems that everything made out of Japan, or is based on a Japanese film/book, just doesn't get me scared (I haven't seen many of them though, Audition I hear to be the scariest in particular). I have seen The Ring (Not the sequel) and The Grudge and I thought they were all stupid. Here is the difference though between those films and Dark Water. Both films managed to have a cohesive plot, and managed to get a "BOO!" out of me. Now, if a film can get me to jump out of my seats multiple times, but doesn't manage to have a plot, I may like the movie on a somewhat small leve, but chances are I won't like it. If a horror movie does have a cohesive plot, but doesn't many "BOO" moments, I will probably like it for being an intelligent thriller. However, if the movie is lacking in both qualities, and I am bored to death throughout, guess what? Chances are I will hate the movie. And guess what? I hated Dark Water.

D-

The only reason why it is not an F is because of the cinematography. The film was at least good to look at.

Well personally The Ring and The Grudge scared the living hell out of me like no other movies ever have been able to. You not jumping at this is not exactly a good sign, but nonetheless I still have some interest in this. Was any of the acting any good?

Well, it was good. It's very, very, very slow, brooding, and contemplative. It takes it's time with it's characters and slowly gets under your skin. There's only one or two true creep out moments, but they're quite effective because of the build up. Honestly, it works better as a character study of a single mom slowly going insane than a horror film. It's got some wonderful direction and cinematography and some terrific acting by Connelly, John C. Reilly, and Tim Roth. Be warned, though - it's an extremely oppressive and just downright depressing trip. Almost nothing good happens to any of the characters, the only humor is at the very beginning, and the film is awash in brown's and black's. Everyone I saw it with hated it because they felt really down afterwards. The ending is particularly unpleasent, and will leave most with a sour taste in their mouth. This will have terrible WOM. It's pretty much the definition of a "thinking man's" horror film, and those never do well. I liked it, though. It creeped me out and left me thinking about it when I got home. If you can tolerate the slow burn execution, and just let the film get under your skin and soak in all of the GREAT direction and performances, you'll enjoy it. Just don't go in expecting a scare a minute type film. I'd give it a solid B.

A well made film with a terrible ending, eh? Hmm...

I still can't wait. I've been dying to see this movie all year, but I'll go in expecting a terrible ending. That's one thing that pretty much every review or mini-review I've read can agree on.

Actually, I thought the ending was great. I just said it was unpleasent. I meant that in the sense that it's not fun to watch. It hits it's mark, though, and fits the tone of the rest of the movie - relentlessly grim.

Ah, by the "this movie will have terrible WOM" comment, I figured that you disliked the ending.

The plot thickens.

Nope. It will have terrible WOM because of how unpleasent a film it is. Also, the fact that it's slow and light on scares won't help. I really think it's formula works, though. Yeah, it's not loaded with scares, but when they hit.....they hit hard. For me, at least. This is the first time i've seen a little girl ghost be creepy without the use of makeup since The Shining twins.

Makeshift, have you seen the original? If so, how does it compare to it? Especially the ending...

Dark Water is an effective thriller, and a really creepy one at that. It's not the scariest movie, but it's consistent in it's dark tone, and had at least one or two scenes that scared the crap out of me (and some that were just gross). Jennifer Connelly is truly terrific and her performance seems effortless, and the director, Walter Salles, clearly knows what he's doing. The ending is pretty good, and I think it fits the movie well enough.

A-

Liked the movie, overall and it's not really that much of a true horror movie.

Still trying to think of other movies that used the same end result as this movie - I seem to remember this ending before.

Dark Water

This movie is horribly cliched.(is that a word?) Seriously, all you have to do is combine both The Ring and the Grudge and you have Dark Water. Why? Well lets take a look.

1. You have those creepy stains[The Grudge]
2. You have the way too hot to be a struggling mother scenario[The Ring]
3. You have the creepy kid thats alive, and creepy kid thats dead [The Ring/The Grudge]
4. You have a dead kid who died in a "well" of sorts[The Ring]
5. You have the child who was neglected by the mother or father, in this case, both[The Ring/The Grudge]

But even with all those unoriginal characteristics, I found the daughter(the alive one) to be extremely cute...WAY TOO CUTE...I loved her. But because the story ripped so much off The Ring and The Grudge, there were bound to be some scares. Which there were...but the scares were so expected that they were almost not scary.

The ending sort of gets you asking, Why the hell did they do that? They focus the story on so many different things, and they end it in a crapfest like that?

I was expecting this, so Im not really disappointed.

Grade: C

makeshift, it is "nice" to look at, but you can tell that so many of the shots were used by The Ring. While effective, I'd prefer something original.

I went to the theater with a friend and we both kept our "theatre composure," but there were all these "ghetto" (more like faux-"ghetto") kids who had a blast tearing the movie to pieces. "Is she dead!? Hahahaha," said one guy.

I was on the verge of laughing with them at a few points, though. The scene in the bathroom is awful. The direction doesn't help it much either - it'd be better if you didn't just see Connelly breaking down.

I gave it a C+. More later.

Great film. The best part about Dark Water that seperates it from all the other horror films this year (excluding House of Wax, which was terrific) is that it wasn't just a movie with cheap scares, little plot, and an ending that makes little sense. Dark Water is a well-made film. The performances were excellent. Connelly just jumped up a whole lot in my book (never was a huge fan...). Great cinematography, too. Lots of great scenes to look at; though kinda...ugly. There were a couple of jumpy scenes, but nothing great. Dark Water isn't groundbreaking, and it ain't the year's best horror, but better than most. B+

C+
Its not scarey but it does not mean it was not good. It reminds me alot of "the ring" Its a sad movie though.

Seems I am one of the few who enjoyed it. Working on my full review and hopefully will have it up along with The Island tomorrow.

I'd have to say that this is one of the best thrillers to come out of Hollywood in a great many years. The tone is consistantly dark and brooding. Unlike fellow Japanese horror remakes, The Ring and The Grudge the film does not heavily favor the cliched "jump scare" moments. There are a few, but they are much more intelligently placed then in the former. Perhaps the reason many are dissapointed is because it really isn't a "horror" film per se, but rather a thriller with a supernatural twist.

The acting is superb, with Jennifer Connelly delivering a knock-out performance. The other actors, including John C. Reily deliver solid, but not exceptionally note-worthy performances.

When the ending finally is shown it is something that is certainly not expected. While some viewers may be left with a slight misunderstanding it is a very well written and timed ending. One of the better films of the year and one of the top films in its genre, I'd give it an A- with a high recommendation, something I've given to very few films this year.

It's a very different film. Like everyone said, it doesn't rely on cheap scares or "BOO!" moments, it's just creepy as hell. And I mean CREEPY! It builds and builds, and it does a nice job. But there's also nothing noteworthy until the end. It kind of creeps along, not doing a whole lot, not giving a whole lot away. The performances are good. I liked John C. Reilly a lot. I don't think Connelly is a standout. She doesn't bring anything to the role that couldn't be filled by someone better. With Naomi Watts and Sarah Michelle Gellar, they were great in the roles. They bring a lot to it. With Connelly... I don't know. She's good, don't get me wrong. It's more or less the character, not her. If the character was more than just depressed, there might be more that she could give, but it's like a one-note character.

There is nothing bright about this film. Nothing happy. I admire that it went that way. I suck at movie reviews that are quick, so I'll cut it short. It's not something that's fun at all, but it does a great job at being a little more original (as in, it builds and doesn't just deliver cheap scares every minute). Grade: B-

its very slow, not scary but still a good movie! Connelly gave an excellent performence

B-

B+

Quite excellent. It's slow, depressing, but that end ups helping the film. You really get into the story and character, and by the end you feel quite a bit for what happens. It's also, as said above, very well made and executed, from it's set designs and build-ups to the terrific acting by Connely, Reilly, and the adorable little girl. IMO, Dark Water is the best supernatural horror/jumpy film since The Ring and The Others a few years back. It's too bad audiences didn't take to it much, because it sure deserved it.

Horrible movie, especially when compared to the competition. The woman is scared of dark water... that is it, no epiphany nothing. She's scared of mud. The kid goes psycho bc of water. Hell no H20.

D-

she is not scared of the water shes scared of the little girl on the top floor

Yeah but we only find that out at the end.

Throughout the whole movie you get the typical scary movie music... she opens the door *screams* and points at water! *points at the ceiling* Water!

WATER!!!!@!@ it's only at the end that we find out about the girl and to me that was soooo crap bc i was laughing at all the water scary scenes which just weren't that scary.

ooh OK, i get what your saying, but it wasnt because of the water

Bah LOl All i got was water LOl

While the film has a creepy atmosphere and solid performances, the movie is full of cliches which makes it seem like a poor copy of movies like The Ring. The director may be trying to take a new approach to this kind of movie, but the movie comes off as overly depressing. While watching this, a friend asked me why we didn't go see a comedy. And I can't blame her. I give this a C/C+ for the performances, the cinematography and creepiness.