Review: Dark Water

Since I'm writing a horror movie about a woman forced to confront a house full of evil, I dragged myself to Dark Water yesterday, a horror movie about a woman (Jennifer Connelly) forced to confront an apartment building full of evil. Anyone who has seen recent J-horror cribs (especially The Ring) is not going to be bowled over. That said, Dark Water is a solid scare with an unconventional ending and some great supporting performances. I rate it a definite renter (Netflix link).

Read more (no spoilers)...When I told Bryan, one of RitM's volunteers, that I was going to see Dark Water he said, "Oh no, not another creepy kid movie." They seem to be plentiful on the ground of late, Robert De Niro's Hide and Seek being one egregious example. Dark Water's girl-with-a-not-so-imaginary-friend is played by Ariel Gade, who is good if for only being a kid actor other than Dakota Fanning or Haley Joel Osmet.

The story is less about her than about her mother (Connelly) who is fighting for custody of her in a messy divorce and accepts a sub-par apartment on Roosevelt Island to be near a good school. John C. Reilly is more than memorable as the real estate agent who sells them the place. His solid character work is augmented by Tim Roth, as a divorce lawyer, Pete Postlethwaite as the somber super and Cameron Manheim as a too-perfect kindergarten teacher.

Walter Salles (director of last year's retroactive top-ten The Motorcycle Diaries) collaborates with cinematographer Affonso Beato to keep the mood oppressively grim. There are a few nice jumps and a few too many jump cuts. Angelo Badalamenti is a cliche at this point for scary movies, but I have no complaints about his score.

The writing credits are a tangle. There was a Japanese novel Dark Water by the writer of the Japanese Ring movie that later became a movie written by two other writers. Then Rafael Yglesias, novelist of what became the movie Fearless adapted it to New York City. Or something. Props all around for keeping the horror rooted in the nature of the characters and the location. IMDb lists the scribes thus:

Writing credits (WGA)
Kôji Suzuki (novel Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara)

Hideo Nakata (film Honogurai mizu no soko kara) and
Takashige Ichise (film Honogurai mizu no soko kara) (as Taka Ichise)

Rafael Yglesias (screenplay)

So what did I learn about what to do and what not to do for my horror script? Well, my story is thankfully very different from this one, other than the superficialities referenced in the lede. I did learn that a mood can be too oppressive. A few moments of levity wouldn'ta killed this flick. And I learned that good actors in character roles make the B-story scenes work like gangbusters. Good lesson for all movies, I suppose. Surround yourself with a good team. Bask in the reflected glory. I hope Connelly works for scale.

NEMESIS OPINION: Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott's right hand of darkness, didn't like it.
UPDATE: MSNBC reports Salles is upset with the final cut:

Walter Salles, director of “Dark Water” is said to be distancing himself from the flick. The Brazilian director reportedly is unhappy with the final cut of the film which stars Jennifer Connelly, according to reports in his native country, which is why he’s been low-key during its promotion. “Officially, he’s working on his next project,” a source tells the Scoop. “But Salles, who's from one of Brazil's wealthiest families, is constantly making such fuss, kind of showing that he’s not sold to the system.” Earlier this year he protested the Oscar ceremony because he was upset that Uruguayan singer who sang on the soundtrack was not invited to sing on stage and was replaced by Antonio Banderas.

[via threebie jj]