Despite the roots of the original, this remake is not the typical american remake of a Japanees paranormal horror movie, but more like 'grown up paranormal thriller' (a sort of thriller we saw a lot during this decade, that just like the true Japanees remakes, I consider to be essential for the evolution that would become the modern horror movie of today) . It does not mean in anyway that I did not enjoy this one. En contraire. I just changed my chips and coke for some red wine and french cheese and let this dark waterfall come over me.Though no true scary movie, in a dark room with a large tv screen and a surround system, this one quickly got a hold on me. It was actually starting to become equal as frightening as sad towards the end. The morbid atmosphere of this movie is the sort you often find in scandinavian crime thrillers. Everything is dark: the setting, the lightening, the clothes of the characters and ofcourse the whole story itself. It could had been a stephen king novel, the sort he wrote during his high days in the late 70s. I guess this is because of subplot becoming one with the main plot as the movie goes along.I wont give you any spoilers, but I can tell you 3 more things: 1) Jennifer Connelly was at her best in this move, if you like her you need to have this one. 2) I am usaually satisfied with any horror or thriller movie having a rating on this site more then 5/10, but in this cas it is a hunge underestimation. I have watched many many movies with higher ratings being not so good as this one. 3) This is not to move to watch with your mates with popcorn. Watch it alone or with two of you, in the dark, with the volume up and let this one go straight to your heart. This is a movie you will remember.

The wave of Japanese supernatural horror remakes that hit in the mid-2000's left its mark on the genre, with a few memorable hits ('The Ring,' 'The Grudge') and a host of lesser-known "me too" efforts ('The Eye,' 'Shutter'). Touchstone Pictures' 'Dark Water' is definitely closer to those in the later category, as the 2005 thriller disappointed at the box office and was a miss with critics.The film, directed by Walter Salles and starring Jennifer Connolly (with supporting roles handled by John C. Reilly, Tim Roth, Ariel Made and others), is at its best a mild imitation of similar films that came before it. 'Water' takes place on NYC's Roosevelt Island, and if there's ever been a campaign against moving there, this is it. Connolly plays a recently divorced mom named Dahlia, who takes up residence with her young daughter Ceci in a 1970s brutalist apartment complex - with rent under $1,000/month! Of course, there's always a catch, and this one comes in the sinister form of a spirit haunting the building (specifically, the unit directly above theirs). As you can imagine, all sorts of things ensure, from Dahlia experiencing migraines to the elevator not working and lots of dark, brown water showing up in all kinds of places.While you'd think 'Water' would have all the ingredients for a solid supernatural thriller, the film falls short in a lot of areas. For one, there are too many similarities in the plot with others, namely 'The Ring.' As for the "scares" that are thrown in here, none of them are truly that scary. There are some unsettling scenes, for sure, but they mostly revolve around the mother/daughter relationship - both Dahlia and Ceci and Dahlia and her mother (as seen through flashbacks). The themes of abandonment and sacrifice are present throughout, and give the film a sense of purpose, but this is not enough to counter the multiple issues with 'Water.' From the "saw it coming" twist at the end to the constant rain that plagues NYC (did they mean for it to be Seattle?), many improvements could have been made to the film.'Dark Water' was never intended to be a masterpiece, nor was it supposed to be a huge hit with audiences. But it still managed to disappoint beneath those standards.

Dark Water (2005): Dir: Walter Salles / Cast: Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Pete Postlethewaite, Dougray Scott, Ariel Gade: Title bears no central reference to the plot other than the water in the run down apartment spews dark water and the body of a young girl is found otherwise it completely subtracts from the core issue. Jennifer Connelly is separated and moves her daughter into an apartment but strange things occur including a bad leakage problem. So far so good until nothing makes sense. Sometimes repetitious but the ending is complete nonsensical crap. Why not concentrate on Connelly's demons growing up with an abusive and neglect mother? Director Walter Salles makes things tense aided by sound effects and ominous use of lighting but no trickery can save this fowl flood mess. Connelly is as talented as she is beautiful but she is more or less a pawn in a very stupid movie. Supporting roles are a complete waste. John C. Reilly plays the apartment owner. Pete Postlethewaite plays the maintenance attendant. Dougray Scott plays Connelly's ex-husband and the role is flat. Ariel Gade plays Connelly's daughter and starring with Connelly is about as good as it gets for her in this dish water film. Everyone of them could have played those roles in their sleep, and for all the good the film is, they might as well have been asleep. Mediocre screenplay should be drown in a toilet. Score: 2 / 10

As many other reviewers have mentioned before this movie was wrongly marketed as a horror movie. I found it to be more of a psychological horror rather than a pop-up scary faces type deal. The movie was extremely effective in creating an unsettling, suspenseful atmosphere and I found myself roped into Jennifer Connelly's characters' fear and uncertainty as it becomes hard to distinguish what's real and what's not. A lot of time was taken to establish character and atmosphere which was done effectively although I felt sometimes it lost it's way and some scenes could have been left out. All in all it was a well done movie with great characters that brought you in, an excellently created atmosphere that kept things suspenseful and had me feeling unsettled and a beautiful, bittersweet ending. (P.S. hope everyone's done with their generalizations of teenagers because you're sounding like a bunch of bitter old farts who's never actually met one.)