Review
DARK WATER
Starring Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly and Tim Roth
Directed by Walter Salles
Opens Friday, July 8
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You want good horror? Three words: Made in Japan. That seems to be the trend in the chills department. And fresh from the twisted minds responsible for The Ring – still the gem of all creepy Japanese exports – comes Dark Water, a terrifying movie about ghosts, bad relationships and bad plumbing.
Jennifer Connelly, who already suffered a heap of real estate woes in her last outing, House of Sand and Fog, headlines Dark Water as Dahlia Williams, a young woman trying to start a new life. Suffering through a messy custody battle with her unfaithful ex (Dougray Scott) over her cute-as-a-button daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade), Dahlia finds a new job and a new home – a dank, run-down flat on New York’s Roosevelt Island, a rain-swept community unfailing in its gloomy overcast sky (which sets the mood beautifully).
Weird noises and a consistent leak from the apartment above have Dahlia badgering the crusty super (Pete Postlethwaite) and her huckster real estate agent (John C. Reilly). When the problems persist, Dahlia does a little snooping on her own, which is always a bad idea. Just ask Naomi Watts.
The trouble is, no one lives upstairs. So is the sea of drizzle and assorted bumps in the night a ghost? Is Dahlia’s own mind playing tricks on her, due to the effect of crippling headaches? (The girl does have issues, as her own personal demons occasionally come out to play.) Or is it the sinister work of her ex-husband, trying to make her appear insane so he can steal custody of Ceci?
Director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) throws out red herrings and "boo!" moments with glee, but wastes neither. Unlike the Americanized version of The Grudge, which depended on visual shocks, Dark Water finds its power in the story’s build up. There’s a wonderful structure to the screenplay – lurking under the surface are secrets and freaky twists just waiting to gush. The fact that Salles doesn’t blow his load too early or get silly with the subject matter makes Dark Water all the more powerful.
While the look and feel of Salles’s film is perfectly creepy as well – almost every frame is damp, cold and dark – none of this would click without an authentic performance leading the charge, and Connelly proves more than capable of pulling it off. With a main character emotionally bouncing between reality and nightmare, it would be all too easy to go over-the-top on this one, but Connelly keeps things grounded. And the result is a scary movie. Seriously scary. |
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