In 2005, the horror movieDark Waterwas released. Starring Jennifer Connelly, it’s a remake of the 2002 Japanese movie about a single mother who moves into an apartment building that seems to be haunted. While Dahlia Williams does her best to make her daughter Cecilia (Ariel Gade) happy, both mother and child are terrified by the black water that keeps appearing in the ceiling of the bedroom.
While this sounds promising, the film doesn’t seem to have anything to say, and audiences will be searching for anything that seems scary and come up empty. Although Jennifer Connelly gives a great performance, it’s fair to say thatDark Wateris a horror movie that is about nothing.
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The main problem withDark Wateris it thinks that the creepy setting speaks for itself. But since nothing happens in this movie and there is no plot or character development, it’s hard to find the apartment as freaky as it’s meant to be. Dahlia wants nothing more than to provide a lovely and comfortable home for her daughter, which is tough since after divorcing her abusive husband, she doesn’t have much money. When she and Cecilia move into an old apartment, the area is bleak and depressing but she’s hopeful that it will be a fresh start. But as water begins coming into the apartment from above, Dahlia gets a bad feeling that something is wrong, something more sinister than annoying plumbing issues.
While acreative haunted house movieis always welcome, that’s not what horror fans will find here. The apartment is so gross, dirty, and old that it’s not much fun to look at it for very long, and audiences will just feel badly that this is where the main characters are living. There’s definitely a fine line between a horrifying setting and a disgusting one.
As audiences get further into the movie, the reason for the horror comes out: the ghost of a young girl named Natasha Rimsky (Perla Haney-Jardine) used to live in the apartment above Dahlia and Cecilia and she died. Because her mom didn’t treat her well, Natasha isn’t thrilled that Dahlia is such a great parent and she wants to make life difficult for them. While there are manyunique horror movies that tell ghost stories,Dark Waterisn’t one of them. Natasha is an evil spirit, sure, but horror fans have seen many ghosts who are angry and who want to punish the living. This ghost doesn’t stand out.
Dark Wateralso has a bleak ending and it’s tough to say that the movie warrants it. Since the story focuses on a single mom and her cute daughter, audiences would expect some kind of happy ending with a positive resolution. But while audiences would expect Dahlia and Cecilia to help Natasha find peace and become part of the afterlife properly, that’s not what happens.
Instead, Natasha drowns Dahlia and Dahlia becomes a ghost as well. This feels harsh and it doesn’t even make sense that Natasha would want to punish Dahlia for being a wonderful, loving parent. It’s not scary, it’s just sad and confusing. Natasha isn’t even acreepy horror movie childas her backstory is so simplistic and any danger that she presents isn’t that interesting. If Cecilia is going to play with Natasha’s ghost and seem to be able to connect and interact with her, can’t Cecilia and Dahlia figure out a way to defeat Natasha and get their lives and happiness back? When Dahlia’s spirit tells her daughter that she will love her forever and keep watching over her, the affect is anything but heartwarming, and the awkward cheese factor probably wasn’t the intention.
Dark Waterhas the potential to be anelevated horror moviethat talks about single parenthood, raising a happy child without much money, and how to get over a hard time and move ahead. The movie shows Dahlia in dire straits, trying to maintain employment and be able to raise her daughter without her ex-husband constantly bothering her and making life difficult. But since the film never goes too deep into any real issues, it doesn’t fit into this category. The movie goes back and forth between showing how sad Dahlia’s life is and showing how creepy the apartment is, but if the story could strike a better balance, the movie could be both scary and smart.
But the movie isn’t a fun and terrifying ride, either, as there are no genuinely freaky moments that will make audiences jump. After a while, the water in the ceiling will stop being even the tiniest bit scary, and anyone watching the film will wonder why there isn’t more story.
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