Movie Review: Dark Water (2005)

Dark Water (2005) 

Touchstone Pictures, Pandemonium Productions, Vertigo Entertainment, Post No Bills Films, USA, 2005. 

(If the plot description sounds similar to my previous review of original Japanese "Dark Water" (2002), that's because the plots are basically the same.) 

Dahlia Williams (Jennifer Connelly) has divorced and battles for custody of her daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade). Dahlia has some problems because she had a rough childhood with neglecting alcoholic mother. Dahlia and Ceci move into a new apartment in Roosevelt Island, an old Brutalist style apartment house. Estate agent Mr. Murray (John C. Reilly) shows the house that is in bad condition but the rents are cheap. Superintendent of the building is sloppy Mr. Veeck (Pete Postlethwaite). There is water on the floor and surveillance camera shows ghostly activity. 

Ceci and Dahlia

Mr. Murray

Mr. Veeck

Ceci goes missing and is found playing on the roof terrace. After moving in everything seems fine, except for water dripping from the ceiling. Also the tap water is dirty. Creepy Mr. Veeck is useless for the water problem. Ceci's father Kyle (Dougray Scott) opposes Dahlia's choice of living location and wants to take the custody case into the  court. Dahlia hires a "Lincoln lawyer" Jeff Platzer (Tim Roth) to help her. 

Kyle

Jeff Platzer with his customer (muMs)

The stress begins to make Dahlia nervous. From the above apartment comes child's footsteps but no one lives here. Taking care of legal troubles and going to job takes a lot of Dahlia's time so Ceci feels lonely. Ceci begins to play with an imaginary friend Natasha. Oddly a girl named Natasha who once lived upstairs has vanished mysteriously. 

Apartment complex, Brutalist style

What I said about the original Japanese version is mostly valid for the remake. It is not really a horror film but a psychological drama with a ghost mystery. Effective creepy atmosphere is enhanced by Angelo Badalamenti's melancholic score. Still it feels that overexplaining removes some of the emotional impact of the original. If you liked the original you might want to check this out also as this is a good remake. 

Call the plumber

There are some artistic differences, the American version is more talky and the characters are more fleshed out. John C. Reilly's suave estate agent brings some slight comedy. Dahlia's mental breakdown is more pronounced here. Ghost girl Natasha (Perla Haney-Jardine) gets more screen time. The depressing concrete apartment complex is an interesting and eerie location. In this remake there seems to be other people living in the building, the house in original version seemed quite vacant. 

Rating: Good

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, Pete Postlethwaite, Camryn Manheim, Ariel Gade, Perla Haney-Jardine, Debra Monk, Linda Emond, Bill Buell, J.R. Horne, Elina Löwensohn, Warren Belle, Alison Sealy-Smith, Simon Reynolds, Kate Hewlett, Jennifer Baxter, Diego Fuentes, Zoe Heath, Craig muMs Grant, Matthew Lemche, Edward Kennington, Jane Aronds, Ismael Peter Casillas III, Marshall Factora 

Director: Walter Salles