A single mother, a mysterious haunting, urban terror: This well-crafted Japanese horror remake has a too-familiar "Ring" to it.
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07/07/05
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Dark Water (2005)
46
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:144
Fresh:66
Rotten:78
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: All the atmospherics in Dark Water can't make up for the lack of genuine scares.
Theatrical Release:Jul 8, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $25,416,400
Synopsis: Acclaimed director Walter Salles ("Central Station," "The Motorcycle Diaries") helms and Academy Award®-winner Jennifer Connelly stars in DARK WATER, a psychological thriller featuring a stellar... [More]
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Ariel Gade, Dougray Scott, Pete Postlethwaite
Director: Walter Salles
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Reviews for Dark Water
The only thing scary about Dark Water is the fact the movie never seems to end.
07/07/05
The tagline says, 'Some mysteries were never meant to be solved.' Unfortunately, the filmmakers solve it for you just a few minutes into the movie.
07/07/05
Dark Water is a been-there- done-that- over-again- rince-repeater whose true ghosts are the memory of what its copying.
07/07/05
Works best as a study of how a nice, beautiful woman is forced to deal with a succession of creepy, dishonest men.
07/07/05
A surprisingly faithful adaptation ... it has an identifiable human component that makes its sense of isolation seem disturbingly real.
07/07/05
Pretty much follows the formula of Japanese horror, but at least it does it with some involvement in the story.
07/07/05
It's a beautiful, beautiful film, one so expressive that you run out of adjectives to describe it and are reduced to repeating 'beautiful' and 'lovely' over and over.
07/07/05
Would have been... more entertaining as an absurdist comedy about the troubles one woman will go through in order to not live in Queens, the Bronx or (God forbid) Jersey.
07/07/05
Sadly, you can't be sued for plagiarizing yourself
07/07/05
It's familiar material twisted into interesting directions, and even if it doesn’t always succeed dramatically, the attempt is clear, and I appreciate the film for that alone.
07/07/05
Excruciating and less scary than a clogged up toilet, Dark Water should be allowed to quietly drain.
07/07/05
It's hard to resist sure-to-be-cliched adjectives like soggy and waterlogged when describing this film.
07/07/05
admirable simplicity with an all-enveloping mood
07/07/05
Salles tends to explain rather than suggest, but he connects with the anguish and abandonment to give this ghost story an emotionally haunting core.
07/07/05
Though Dark Water doesn't run deep....Salles keeps his head above [it]...with superior acting, mise en scene, story, script, and photography.
07/07/05
[It] has a split personality, as it contains two movies that are frequently at odds with each other.
07/07/05
A distressing, subtly suspenseful film full of emotional resonance.
07/07/05
There's something that never quite works about the film, which can't seem to decide if it's all in Dahlia's head, all in the spirit world or all in her pipes.
07/07/05
Top CriticDark Water has plenty of creepy moments, but few scares, and it becomes bogged down in setup.
07/07/05
Top CriticLatest News for Dark Water
October 18, 2005:
Next Asia-to-America Horror Remakes? Two Separate "Eye"s
For those who just can't get enough of American remakes like "The Ring," "The Grudge," and "Dark Water," get ready to celebrate. Paramount's got a... More...
July 11, 2005:
Superheroes Generate Some Fantastic Weekend "Four" Play
Despite fairly atrocious reviews across the board, Marvel comic adaptation "Fantastic Four" not only snagged the number #1 box office spot -- but did so with some... More...
July 07, 2005:
Critical Consensus: Superheroes vs. the Supernatural
This week's wide releases share a concern for the agonies of the modern family. How does a single mother cope with leaky faucets that are harbingers of doom? How does a family... More...
July 05, 2005:
Spielberg Wages "War" on the Holiday Weekend Box Office
No, it didn't break any records ... but no, it didn't exactly underperform, either. No matter how you look at it, Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" zapped a... More...
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