CRITIQUE

This movie pulls a Sixth Sense and plays a horror movie as if it were a drama. It's all mood, slight mystery, and barely features any real scares, but the atmosphere makes it a tense film to sit through. Dark Water definitely has an eastern feel to it, the filmmakers managed to make an Americanized Japanese translation without hindering what the story is really about: one mother’s undying love for her child.

Dark Water is more of a psychological story on parenting than an empty summer movie about a haunted apartment. This is about a mother who is haunted by her own past of her own parental neglect. The divorce, migraines, the whispering voice in their apartment and a leaking ceiling pipe is more than a normal person can take, but somehow Connelly’s character manages it.

The cast does a great job when you really think about it as the ensemble casting here is pretty much A-list. John C. Reilly plays a slimy real estate agent, Pete Postlethwaite is the creepy landlord, Tim Roth is a lawyer with a heart of gold, Dougray Scott is the ex-husband who may or may not have been a faithful man, and even newcomer Ariel Gade who plays the young daughter brings innocence and great screen presence.

But it’s Jennifer Connolly who stands out in this movie, playing the divorcee and single parent Dahlia. She really brings her a-game to this movie, showing every emotion a mother would have, whether she’s glad that her child is happy or becoming cautious when something isn’t right. She gives her character a great range. There's something about Connolly, especially knowing that she's a mother in real life, that helps make her character believable.

THE VIDEO

Dark Water is a dark and moody film presented in anamorphic widescreen. The transfer here is pretty good, however there is a moment here and there where the darkest part of the screen goes grainy, but it's forgivable.

THE AUDIO

Music and ominous noise can make or break a movie like this, and the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround audio presentation gets the job done very well. What really stands out is Italian composer Angelo Badalamenti's lullaby score which gives the movie more atmosphere than most of the visuals.

THE EXTRAS

Beneath the Surface: The Making of Dark Water (15:48) breaks down into five featurettes. "Beyond the Horror" shows us how the filmmakers wanted to make a very psychological horror film instead of the run of the mill obvious genre project.

"An Island Apart" shows the basic feeling of Roosevelt Island in New York and what the cast and crew thought of it. They express architecture of the urban landscape and how it helped them bring the right tone to the film.

"A Director’s Vision" features the director explaining his involvement and influence with the material.

"Water by Design" offers the views and techniques from production designer Therese DePrez’s on the production of Dark Water. It's interesting in seeing how the film is made and surprising how 80% of the movie is done on a soundstage.

"Deep Water" goes through the element of water and how it is used in the film.

The Sound of Terror is a 7-minute featurette on sound design.

The 26-minute Extraordinary Ensemble is s probably the only fluff piece of the bonus features. But while watching it you will notice that it's well deserved. The ensemble cast is very much extraordinary. Features interviews with the actors and select crew, like the cinematographer and others.

Analyzing Dark Water Scenes is a self explanatory extra that basically fills in the gaps of what is missed on the lacking commentary, but this extra offers some more in depth coverage of scenes.

Some deleted scenes are offered, which don’t take away from the film’s pace so they could’ve stayed in the film in my opinion.

There are also several trailers.