Dark Water poster & wallpaper

Asami Mizukawa, Fumiyo Kohinata, Hitomi Kuroki

Thrill-master Hideo Nakata takes another chilling novel by Koji Suzuki and adapts it for the screen. This time, Yoshimi (Hitomi Kuroki) is fighting for the custody of her daughter, but more menacing p...( read more  read more... )roblems have begun to plague her in her dreary apartment: An inexplicable odd pattern appears on her ceiling, and when she has recurrent visions of a strange girl and of a red bag she used to own when she was a child, Yoshimi fears for her sanity.

Flixster Users

69% liked it

17,512 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

14 critics

PG-13

Directed by: Hideo Nakata

Release Date: November 9, 2002

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 21, 2005

Stats: 1,099 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (Honogurai mizu no soko kara) (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002) Dark Water (2002)
Upload a Photo |

View All Dark Water Photos (13)

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (1,099)

  • SirPant
    September 15, 2009
    SirPant
    Hideo Nakata is undoubtedly the best horror director working today. Dark Water (The Original) is creepier than the ring in my opinion. I just wish Hollywood would stop doing pointless remakes!
  • stopitgoaway
    September 7, 2008
    stopitgoaway
    This is my idea of a horror movie. No junk, no noise, no random jolts, but plenty of fear, delivered quietly and compactly, without fuss. It's the most suspenseful movie I've seen since "Ring," and I think it's even better. Like that movie, it put my stomach in knots to prep them...( read more) for the chills, which rose up like waves out of calm water. I thought "Ring" rather like a Robert Aickman story; this is as near as a movie can come. The director has uncanny skill in knowing where to place the camera and how long to hold a shot. And the leading actress gives a wonderful performance. Her face in the elevator...but that would be giving it away. The conclusion is foreseeable--maybe the ends of all ghost stories are foreseeable--but nonetheless satisfying. If you like tales of quietly disturbing dread, this is one for you.
  • garyX
    August 18, 2008
    garyX
    Hideo (Ringu) Nakata once again wheels out the old J horror staple of young woman stalked by mysterious child after moving into a new apartment with her young daughter. The fact is that there's nothing really WRONG with this film (aside from when the soundtrack skirted dangerousl...( read more)y close to power ballad territory), it's just that we've seen it all before. To the point where I knew what the so-called "twist" would be virtually from the outset, and spent the first hour wishing he'd just cut to the chase. There are a couple of atmospheric scenes, but otherwise it's strictly by the numbers and a little sterile, with an occasional lapse in logic (has this woman never heard of a staircase...?!) Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the very similar Ju On.
  • EarthlyAlien
    August 8, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    "My mother was here all that time... protecting me."

    On one level, Hideo Nakata's follow-up to Ringu is a conventional, supernatural horror/ghost story. On another, more reflective level, Dark Water is a meditation on mourning, regret, and the fear of abando...( read more)nment, as well as an exploration of the inability to integrate childhood traumas into our adult selves without, in turn, duplicating those same traumas in our own children. The ghosts that inhabit Dark Water exist metaphorically and literally, lingering in the memories of an unhappy childhood and in the darkened corners of an empty, water-soaked apartment building.

    Photobucket

    Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki), the central character in Dark Water, is in the middle of a custody hearing for her six-year-old daughter, Ikuto (Rio Kanno); she must also cope with strained financial resources (her ex-husband apparently doesn't pay alimony and seems to contribute little to his daughter's welfare). Her strained financial circumstances compel her to accept a modest apartment in a semi-abandoned, decrepit building (the other tenants are apparently missing in action, except two old women who keep the manager company on the ground floor). The abandoned building, however, also seems to reflect her increasingly tenuous frame of mind.

    As Yoshimi attempts to have the custody battle resolved in her favour, as well as obtain and hold down a job, she becomes gradually unnerved by a growing water stain over her bed, a red children's satchel bag that continually reappears in the apartment building, and half-glimpses of a little girl in a yellow raincoat in the hallways and rooftop of the building. As the supernatural force behind the odd disturbances and ceiling stain begins to adversely affect her young daughter's health, Yoshimi finds herself reliving childhood memories of her own mother, who apparently abandoned her.

    A flashback to Yoshimi's youth reveals her waiting for her mother's arrival (which never comes). This recurring flashback creates an almost too perfect symmetry between Yoshimi, her daughter, Ikuto, who, under one interpretation, is a mirror image of Yoshimi's younger self, and the ghost child, who may or may not be a psychological projection of Yoshimi's own internal fears and anxieties. Compelled to remain in the building despite her better judgement (leaving means compromising her custody claim), Yoshimi ultimately finds herself drawn into uncovering the identity of the ghost child (as well as what the ghost wants, a question asked and answered at the climax of the film).

    As in Ringu, Nakata prefers a "slow-burn" approach to supernatural horror, gradually emphasizing the deteriorating psychological state of the main character, while concurrently increasing the magnitude of the ghostly occurrences. From a technical perspective, use of visual cues and objects within the frame is unparalleled. Nakata prefers the stillness of a shot, rarely moving the camera, so when he does, it dramatically heightens tension, from the out-of-focus ghost child, lingering out of reach, almost erased from memory, to the bright dab of a yellow raincoat, to the palpable presence of water in almost every shot (the constantly pouring rain, the water congealing and dripping from the ceiling, a river that wends its way near the apartment complex, the flooded hallways, an overflowing bathtub, contaminated drinking water). Here, water is almost supernaturally charged, signalling the presence of a potentially malevolent force.

    Audiences, however - especially fans of J-Horror - may find far too many similarities with Ringu. In both films, a female protagonist, a single mother, encounters a supernatural force. In both films, the protagonist must discover the identity of the uninvited visitor, uncover the source of the ghost's appearance and malevolent behaviour and, hopefully, find the solution that frees the protagonist from the curse or influence of the ghost. Where Ringu is externally driven, by a cruel, supernatural deadline (i.e., anyone who views the cursed videotape is doomed to die violently in seven days), Dark Water is driven by an internal, reflective process.

    In other words, in Ringu, the protagonist, also a single mother (some will argue the similarities between the two films are sufficient to diminish the experience of enjoying Dark Water), is far more active, literally moving from one location to another, uncovering the vital clues necessary to remove the curse. In Dark Water, the protagonist's choices are always defensive and reactive, the conflict partially internalized, and her investigation literally limited to one location, the semi-abandoned apartment building.

    Dark Water, however, suffers from one major problem, one that almost derails the film. Nakata and his screenwriter chose to append an unnecessary epilogue. In the epilogue, the function of the protagonist switches from the mother to the daughter, now sixteen. Yoshimi's final decision means that the narrative has come to a natural end. Shifting the plot from the mother to the daughter at sixteen (ten years after the events presented in the film) violates the Aristotelian unities of plot, time, and space; it also provides redundant exposition and information.

    As an alternative, Dark Water could be understood as an extended flashback, an attempt, perhaps, by the daughter to explain the mother's erratic behaviour. Unfortunately, Nakata fails to provide the audience with the visual cues or the narrative structure necessary to suggest this interpretation as a viable alternative. The addition of a prologue to bookend the epilogue would have likely resolved this problem. If anything, the epilogue serves a non-narrative purpose here: Nakata and his producers were likely unsure as to whether mainstream audiences would have understood the film without an additional, exposition-heavy scene to revisit the ending with a second explanation.

    In the end though, Dark Water is still a fairly effective spook show and a solid entry in the J-Horror movement. One that relies on characterization and audience empathy to generate as much pathos as fear. Without the unique premise of Ringu, it's a more traditional kind of ghost story, but the ghost in this case is mostly window-dressing, as if Kramer vs. Kramer had travelled to Asia and made a detour into horror territory. As a follow-up to Ringu, it does a good job of supplying more of what fans enjoyed the first time, and the story is good enough to stand on its own. Like many follow-ups, however, it falls far short of its famous predecessor.
  • organgrinder136
    July 24, 2008
    organgrinder136
    another asian horror with guess what? yes, you easily guessed it right... a girl with messy long dark hair as the creepy entity. would it hurt to change the recipe once in a while? anyway, aside from that... it's by hideo nakata (the director of the ring) and it's not too freaky ...( read more)but is good. more of a ghost story than an out an out horror. also slow paced
  • stilettokillerz
    November 4, 2009
    stilettokillerz
    As usual, Japanese horror movies always scared the heck outta me. Well done.
  • malcolmjovidennis
    October 31, 2009
    malcolmjovidennis
    Dark water, made by one of the greatest if not the greatest horror movie directors that brought us the ring a truly excellent movie brings us dark water. And it doesnt disappoint, this is a truly scary movie with some seriously smart directing and prolonged suspense and shocks. A...( read more)lso above this fright fest is a deep story (if you will pardon the pun). Overall this is a seriously good horror movie that doesnt resort to hardcore violence or sharp shocks and for that alone it should be applauded.
  • ElCochran90
    September 18, 2009
    ElCochran90
    The Japanese version of the story is better, and definitely the best movie of Hideo Nakata after Ringu. Scary, creepy and original. Good effort.

    69/100
  • iamthethinman
    August 14, 2009
    iamthethinman
    I know this is a review of the Japanese original, but I will go out on a limb and say this, I actually think the US remake improved on this movie. Now that people will hate me, I watched this again on a whim. I watched it originally right after I saw the US version. This movie is...( read more) still very good. I like it more than The Ring. There is so much emotion and definite atmosphere to this movie.

    The performances are great and I believe this movie is more of a surprise in its overall than most other J-horror kind of movies. And in this movie, the blue filter and darkness seems more appropriate. To me, I know it was the same as the team for Ringu, but it had more of a Kyoshi Kurosawa feel ? and that always gets points from me. If anyone has seen the US version, no need to see this one. If you haven?t seen the US version, see that one first. You will be pleasantly surprised. But if you haven?t seen any J-horror, this is a great place to start.
  • kaylalynn96
    August 10, 2009
    kaylalynn96
    I found it more sad than scary.

View All Dark Water Reviews

Critic Reviews

July 8, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

About as frightening as a soggy diaper. full review

View more Dark Water reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • gebet
    April 23, 2007
    gebet
    i loved it for it's simplicity..
  • Sessky1
    January 21, 2007
    Sessky1
    i love this film the little girl is so cute
  • fitfunnfab
    November 19, 2006
    fitfunnfab
    I loved this one better than the U.S. version. Excellent!
  • asiancutie93
    July 12, 2006
    asiancutie93
    if u love scary movies then u'll love this movie!!!!!
Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Dark Water
    Dark Water (75%)
  • The Shining
    The Shining (50%)
  • El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
    El Orfanato (The Orphanage) (53%)
  • In Dreams
    In Dreams (14%)

More Movies like Dark Water

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Dark Water : Watch Free on TV

Dark Water Trivia

  • which actress has been in all of the following movies: The Labyrinth, Dark water, Requiem for a Dream, and A Beautiful Mind?  Answer »
  • What missing word connects the following films? ____ Water Dancer In The ____ ____ City ____ Crystal ????  Answer »
  • In what movie, did they sing the song "Incie wincie spider"?  Answer »
  • Which three movies are based on previous Japanese productions?  Answer »
More Dark Water Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Dark Water. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Dark Water to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?