Dark Water (DVD, 2005, Unrated - Widescreen)

With the onslaught of Japanese influences coming into Horror and Film-making, Film Director Walter Salles takes Author Koji Suzuki's Dark Water thriller to a level we may have never expected. Although the film works at making us feel sympathetic toward Dahlia, her disconnected demeanor makes it a bit harder to understand why this should have happened only to her and not the other people in the building.

Jennifer Connelly (Dark City) plays a young married woman named Dahlia who is mother to daughter. The separation from her husband drive to find a less expensive apartment high-rise in New York City.

The ending becomes the pinnacle for and explains all the happenings and occurrences that may have been blamed on her or the building attendant or teenagers.

The director tries to keep the movie interesting but is somewhat cumbersome, slow, and depressing in certain areas.

I'll give this movie a 4/5 because it was worth watching.

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This movie is my idea of a truly horrific flick (in a good way)- it is suspenseful, disturbing and has a serious storyline with actors that make it believable. It also has an ending I was not expecting. It is quite sad and is NOT your typical horror flick wrap up. You may see some similarities between the ghost in this movie and the "evil" little girl in The Ring.

As the story opens Dahlia is a devoted mother who is battling her cheating soon to be ex husband for custody of thier little girl, Ceci. She is determined to make it on her own with Ceci, but does not have the money for a nice place to live. The only apartments she can afford on her own are dumps and the one she finally chooses to rent is no exception. Soon after moving in she realizes that something is not right in the apartment above her. Although the super has told her the apartment is empty she can hear someone moving around and talking. Also there is a persistant leak of black water from the ceiling in her bedroom that seems to be coming from the upstairs apartment. The super keeps telling her it is just troublesome kids that keep breaking in and flooding the place, but he is unwilling to help her with the problem. At the same time Ceci begins talking to an imaginary friend and having trouble at school. Dahlia is worried about Ceci and also worried about loosing custody of her, as her exhusband is using these things against her to say she is too emotionally unstable to raise a child. Dahlia is considering that her ex may be staging the occurances in the apartment to make her look crazy. But what is really causing the black water?

In New York City, Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) has just divorced from her husband and is disputing the custody of their daughter Cecilia (Ariel Gade). She has a very restricted budget, so she moves with Cecilia to an old small apartment in an island near Manhattan. She does not pay attention to a stain of water on the ceiling of the bedroom, but once living in the place, she realizes that there is a drip of dark water in the bedroom and she asks the landlord to repair the leakage. Meanwhile, Cecilia finds a red Hello Kitty bag on the terrace, and Dahlia returns it to the administrator. In school, the teacher tells Dahlia that Cecilia has an imaginary friend called Natasha. Along the days, Dahlia has severe migraines and nightmares, while disputing her daughter in the justice and having troubles in the apartment. Dahlia decides to investigate further, and she faces a tragic accident...

Very Haunting and a edge on the seat movie highly recommend it..won't say to much or i'll give the ending away LOL....but i enjoyed it.....
(Mrs. puman)

This is a good movie, but initially more intriguing for its glimpse of life on Roosevelt Island than for its supernatural elements. I could relate to the main character's custody issues and her need to find an affordable apartment in New York City. When she first notices growing water stains & dirty water dripping from her ceiling, I wondered why her FIRST reaction was thinking the place was haunted. MY first instinct would have been to call a plumber! But it turns out the heroine is right; the water has a ghostly origin. If you've seen THE RING and THE GRUDGE, you may be able to guess the cause of the haunting. If you enjoy mysteries with a supernatural element (as opposed to blood and gore), then this is the type of horror film you will enjoy.

I usually love psychological thrillers. It's not like "The Ring" or "The Sixth Sense" but in a way it is like both of them.

Jennifer Connelly stars as Dahlia, the main character and gives a believable performance.

I do not recommend this movie for any child or young teen as it has disturbing scenes. This movie made me feel sad at the end and disturbed after I watched it, so if that was the directors intent, he attained it.